


Octopi (and squids) are surprisingly gay

by Semphyst



Series: OASASG universe [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: (Eight has it), Agent four is sad, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Arguing, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, But they're still friendos, Callie has anxiety, Cavetown is referenced a lot, Chapters can be really depressing based on how garbage my mental state is, Characters will act ooc depending on who they're around, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Deal With It, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fights, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Girls Kissing, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know what else to add, I just dont like Three for some reason so I made her be not nice, I love their music, Kind of is an insane understatement, Mainly agent 8 x Marina based, Marie and Eight get into arguments a lot, Marina has an unhealthy obsession with agent 8, Marina teaches eight how to dance, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, My discord tag is in chapter 16 if any of you guys have feedback or just want to talk, Non-Sexual, Octavio pulls an octavio and hypnotizes everyone's girlfriend so the agents and pearl gotta team up, Pearl is still lesbian, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad and Happy, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, She gets a redemption though so don't worry, Spooning, Steven Universe References, Tags Are Hard, There are too many tags help, Three is kind of mean to Eight for being too soft, Three is mean to Eight for a while, Verbal Abuse, basically everyone in the fic is lesbian, it's pretty cute, lots and lots of cuddling and kissing filler, pearl calls her out for it and it makes her mad, she doubts herself a lot so Marie tries to help, they're my favorite band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 23,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28033281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semphyst/pseuds/Semphyst
Summary: Splatoon was originally created by Nintendo.Agent 8 is finally out of the metro, but she's hurt. She's been bruised and beaten by the many trials, and collapses as soon as she gets to Inkopolis. After recovering after a few weeks of being nursed back to health by her friends, she and Marina get closer to each other. Everyone knows, but they leave Eight be to deal with her feelings. Meanwhile, Marie is falling deeper and deeper in love with agent four as they continue to go on missions with each other. What could go wrong?Also, I mostly write this at 3 in the morning, so I'm sorry if the writing is terrible, I just hope y'all like it. The fic will probably be bad, but I'll try to improve it. I'll do some standalone splatoon fanfics as well, no ships or anything. Story arc 2 has been picked out, but there's gonna be some more filler between arcs where cuddling n kissing n dates n stuff happen. Have fun reading!If anyone has criticisms, please, comment them! As long as they're constructive, I'm happy to listen to what you all have to say, in order to improve this fic. So please, if you have any feedback, let me know!https://discord.gg/6XkyW4cZ is the new official server for the fic :)
Relationships: Agent 3/Callie (Splatoon), Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon), Agent 8/Marina (Splatoon)
Series: OASASG universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113824
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Marie's slow recovery

Agent Eight's feet ached as she dragged herself back onto the train with the final thang. How long had she been down here? Weeks? Months? Who knew anymore. The only thing keeping her going was Marina. The girl she looked up to and adored, for her beauty, intelligence, and skill.

Eight couldn't remember her own name. She would look through the poems she collected to try and remember, but nothing would come up. She thought back to the days of the octarian army, and being scolded for being reckless and careless. Eight was one of the only octolings in her team with compassion. She would risk her low rank in order to help her teammates. She knew they wouldn't help back, but that didn't stop her. Once one of the top scientists abandoned the entire project to go to the surface, Eight had to fight harder. She would constantly dash in with her low level weaponry, and almost die each time. Eventually, she was stripped of her rank and abandoned in the metro.

Her mind was whirling as she stepped into the alleged "entry to the promised land." She knew what was about to happen. She didn't show fear as spinning blades neared the top of her head. But inside, she was terrified. _"Is this really what my life was for? I thought I had a chance at getting out of here. Getting to see her face to face. I might as well tell her now, since I'm not going to make it."_ "Marina, I-" But then, a miracle happened. It was relieving, but it tore Eight apart. In one of her most vulnerable moments, she let her guard down and it got her nothing.

"Marie, move! He's gonna run you over!" Agent four dashed to protect Marie from the charging octosamurai. "This guy never quits, huh?" Four looked over at Marie, but she seemed to be zoned out. She shook Marie back and forth. "Huh? Oh!" She landed the final hit on the massive tentacle blob creature, and Four took down the tentacle. But what they weren't expecting was a large ink splash once the samurai had been defeated. Marie was splashed, and was almost fully inked. She fell backwards, unconscious. After grabbing the zapfish, Four knelt down and picked Marie up, the zapfish on her chest. Four made sure not to move Marie too much, because then the zapfish would fall off. They were in a different section of octo canyon, and it was fairly far down. Since she couldn't super jump while holding Marie, she had to climb up the cliff face. After hours of climbing with an unconscious Marie tied to her back and a zapfish in her bag, Four finally reached the top. Callie, who was stationed at the top of the cliff, saw Four's weak hands reach up for help. She dashed over, and pulled Four up. Four untied Marie, inked the ground, dropped the zapfish, and submerged to regain her energy. Once she had recharged herself, she rolled Marie around in the ink pit to wash her off. After a few hours of Four and Callie doing karaoke and Four being bad at singing, Marie's eyes gently fluttered open. She slowly sat up on the bench, and looked around. She saw the zapfish sitting safely in the shed she was in, but Four was nowhere to be found. Marie started to panic. "Four?" She called out nervously. Four opened the shed door, and Marie leapt into her arms. "Oh, you're okay!" Four looked down in surprise. Callie walked over to see what was up. "Looks like I'm gonna have to tell Three that my cousin has a girlfriend too, now." Callie smirked. Four's face turned pink. "Not funny!" Marie retorted. Today was just weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note!  
> I ship both Eightrina and Pearlrina, although Eightrina is more prominent. I mainly see the relationship between Pearl and Marina as really close best friends, and Eightrina like... doesn't exist. Seriously, look at its tag. So, that's why I write Eightrina stuff instead, because there's a shit ton of Pearlrina already out there. Eight isn't meant to be a self insert or anything, just her own character with her own unique personality with a few personality traits from myself thrown in there as well.


	2. The metro is fading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once she escaped the metro, Agent Eight is greeted by new chatlogs after a month, and finds out she has an admirer.

"Hey everybody, welcome back to off the hook!" Agent Eight opened her eyes to the familiar pert voice. She looked up from her bed at the TV to watch the daily off the hook announcements. Once they were over, it switched to the standard broadcasts. It had been about a month since Eight's escape from the metro. She had been being nursed back to health by Pearl and Marina, due to the extreme amounts of damage and stress her body had been through. She slipped herself out of bed, and flinched when her bare feet touched the cold floor. She wasn't really wearing anything apart from a chest wrapping and some light grey shorts. Having turned 17 a few days earlier, she was close to Marina's age by a year. She rubbed her hands against her smooth, milky skin. All of a sudden, the door opened, and she was immediately knocked to the ground.

Tentacles tickled at Eight's nose, the soft body against her rolling around on top of her, squealing. "Jeez, Marina, you're crushing her. I get that she's finally out of bed, but come on. It's not like she's your girlfriend." Marina stood up, a light blush appearing on her face. Eight loved everything about Marina, from her cocoa skin to her black and teal tinted hair to the mole to the left of her mouth. She was kind, beautiful, and gave the best hugs.

After a few hours, Marina and Pearl left. Once they did, Eight reached under her bed for the CQ80. She had kept it, in case of more chat logs. Surprisingly, one had been uploaded by Pearl just a few minutes ago. Eight opened it up.

_CraigCuttlefish has joined the chatroom._

__

_CraigCuttlefish: How are my rap buddies going?_

__

_M.C. Princess: I'm good, but Marina... "Dear diary. Agent 8 is really cute. I love her pink hair, her yellow eyes, her timidness, I love everything about her. I checked the footage of her room before going to do the daily report, and she was out of bed! I'm so happy! Pearlie said I swoon over her too much, and that I'm a hopeless romantic who when she sees Eight, feels the urge to cuddle her. She said I'm lovesick and attached. I can't help thinking about Eight, her skin is so soft and smooth, and she's so brave. Pearl even said that I missed the chance to kiss her when I knocked her over earlier. She was so warm. If I had kissed her, I think I would have exploded. I don't even know if she likes me back. I could hardly imagine spooning her. The opportunity to get close to her like that... Not in a sexual way, of course. Just cuddling, and kissing, and... Just thinking about it makes my heart flutter. Well, Pearl is calling me for dinner. Bye, Diary! Sincerely, Marina."_

__

_DJ_Hyperfresh joined the chatroom._

__

_M.C. Princess: I'm so dead._

__

_DJ_Hyperfresh: What the heck, Pearl?! How did you even find that?!_

__

_M.C. Princess: I saw it open on your bed while I went to the bathroom, couldn't resist._

__

_DJ_Hyperfresh: You better not upload this!_

__

_M.C. Princess: Oops, guess my finger slipped._

__

_DJ_Hyperfresh: Peaaaaaaaarl!_

__

_M.C. Princess: Uh oh._

__

_M.C. Princess left the chatroom._

__

_DJ_Hyperfresh left the chatroom._

__

Eight's heart was pounding. And suddenly, she fainted.


	3. Angry fanboys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent four and Marie hold hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snail is my switch name, couldn't come up with a name for agent 4 so I gave her the name I use. This will happen in a later chapter, so this is a forewarning.  
> 

"Popular squid sister Marie seen holding hands with an unnamed inkling after a show! Who is this mysterious inkling, and why was she chosen? Angry fanboys have been swarming the girl's apartment, threatening to break down the door. More on this at five." Came the voice of the news anchor from the TV in Callie's living room. She raised her eyebrows. "Hey, Marie?" Marie's head popped out of the bathroom, toothbrush in her mouth. "Hm?" She spit in the sink and rinsed it out. "What's up?" She walked over to where Callie was, yawning. Callie pointed at the screen. "Tch, like I would be seen holding someone's hand." Marie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it, Callie. I don't even know who that is." Marie got dressed in her usual agent attire. "You're working? Come on, Marie! Relax! Grab a drink! There's plenty of room on the couch!" Came Callie's chipper voice from behind her. "Four and I are working on clearing out octo canyon so that it can be explored by other inklings." Marie put on her boots. "But when we don't have a meeting or a concert or something, that's like... All you do. What's up with that?" Callie tilted her head. "It would be nice to have some help, you know." Marie replied, dryly. She opened the door, and made her way to her secret octo canyon entrance.

Once Marie entered octo canyon, she saw that Four was already there. However, Four was laying on a patch of grass, asleep. "Hey, wake up, sleepyhead. We have work to do." Marie gently shook Four awake. "Can we take the day off? I didn't get much sleep with all of the news people outside my apartment. You know the thing on the news about you holding hands with someone? Everyone seems to think that that someone is me." Four sat up. "Ha! Like I would hold your hand." Marie teased. "Marie. You're literally doing it right now." Marie looked down, and immediately retracted her hand. "Gross! You might have, like, snot on you or something!" Marie wiped her hand in the grass. "But fine, we can take the day off. What do you wanna do? I bet it's gonna be boring." Four patted the ground next to her and laid down on her back. Marie understood, and laid down next to her. All of a sudden, Four started to cry.

"Woah woah woah! What's wrong?" Marie watched as tears trickled down the squid's face. "I messed up our mission a few weeks ago. I thought you were mad at me for getting you out of the way and being reckless like that, when you could have been strategic. I probably ruined the mission. When you were staring at me, I thought you were mad at me and I didn't know what to say. I was so worried you hated me for putting the whole mission at stake, since I was so badly damaged we would have had to leave if I had been hit." Four curled into a crying ball, and buried her face in the dirt. "I was distracted, that's all. It's not your fault." Marie gently hugged Agent four. "But I've been clumsy and useless the whole time I've been here! I'm holding you back, and, and-" "Shhh... It's okay. You're fine! You've done almost all of the work, to be honest. But hey, don't be down on yourself." Marie reluctantly rubbed Four's back until she calmed down. "You know, I was wrong. That wasn't boring. That was super boring. But I'm glad you've calmed down." Four laughed. "How can you keep being so snarky all the time? All your fans call you sweet and stuff." Four asked, between giggles. "Oh, so you're not a fan, huh?" Marie joked, making Four laugh even more. They spent the whole day together, until Marie had to go home to make dinner. They held hands on the way back to the grate.


	4. A secret date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina sneaks Agent 8 out and they go buy Pearl groceries.

Eight heard the door of her room click shut, and she opened her eyes. Marina was in her room. Eight turned a bit red, and hid her face in her pillows. "Eight? Are you awake?" Marina whispered, fumbling with her fingers. Eight raised her head. "Oh! You're up! Um, I'm not supposed to be here, but I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me? I brought a pair of my old clothes for you to wear." Marina set down a pair of sweatpants and a sweater with a pair of socks and boots. "Sure, let me get changed." Eight slid out of bed, picked up the clothes, and went into the bathroom to change.

Marina waited in the main area where Eight's bed was, and saw a flashing light under her bed. She knelt down, and reached under the bed to hold a rectangular object and pull it out. "The CQ80? I thought she left it in the metro for when she went back in a few months..." Marina said to herself, quietly. She opened up the chatlogs, just to see if Pearl had actually uploaded _that_ one. She checked each one, and saw that the last one was marked with a note. This was a feature that they found out about just before Eight escaped. She opened the note first. _I didn't know she liked me this much._ Marina inhaled sharply and turned the CQ80 off. She slid it back under the bed right before Eight came out of the bathroom. "Alright, let's go!" They went out the door, and down to the subway.

The subway was decently quiet and empty, so Eight and Marina had most of the train car to themselves. Marina sat down, and to her delight, Eight sat down with her. It was a fairly long ride to get to the mall, so Marina fell asleep on Eight's shoulder. Eight gently wrapped her arm around Marina's shoulder, and watched out the window. They got to the mall after about half an hour, and Marina yawned and woke up. She felt Eight's arm around her, and smiled a little. They got up, and went outside the train. "We should hold hands, so neither of us get lost." Eight suggested. "So _you_ don't get lost. I've been here before." Marina said, taking Eight's hand anyway.

A few hours of them walking around the mall chatting later, they sat down across from eachother in the food court. "Having fun?" Eight asked, gazing into Marina's eyes. "Yeah." All of a sudden, Marina's phone buzzed. "Uh oh." She mumbled. "Hello?" She picked up the call. "Yo, where are you right now? I didn't know it took this long to buy cake ingredients for a party _you_ planned for your GIRLFRIEND, who isn't in her room. I checked. So. What are you really up to?" Pearl's smug voice came out of the phone. "Oh! Um..." Marina tried coming up with an excuse. "Eight wanted to see my workshop! Yeah." Eight could practically feel Pearl raise her eyebrows from on the other end of the line. "Riiiiight. Well, have fun. _Tch, of course I have to third wheel for a lovebird and a trauma victim._ " Pearl hung up. Marina looked at the time. "Wow, it's later than I thought. We should get going, but I need to buy flour first."

Once they got back to where Eight was staying, Pearl showed up behind them. "Workshop. Right." Marina jumped, and Eight gave a small wave. "I should get some rest. Thanks for today." Eight gave Marina a small peck on the cheek before going into her room and closing the door. Marina brought her hand up to her face, and a small blush appeared on her light brown skin. "We have announcements to do, 'Rina. You can gawk over Eight later." Pearl said, dryly. "Yeah, okay."


	5. Double up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two couples work a salmon run shift.

Four did her hair up as she got ready. She walked to Grizzco headquarters, and waited for the others to arrive. Eight was the first to show up. "How do I do this?" She sounded nervous. "It's my first time, and I want to impress Marina." Four shook her head. "It's easy. Defeat the bosses to collect golden eggs, then put them in the basket. We have a specific amount of eggs we have to get by the end of the wave, but make sure that teammates come first." Eight nodded. Four went inside to check their reservation. "Oh, hello, Snail. Bringing a newbie, I see. You two come in, I'll let the other two know that you're here." Came a gruff voice from some kind of radio. "Come on, Eight. We need to get ready."

Marina and Marie arrived around the same time. Eight was putting on the massive rubber gloves for her brand new Grizzco uniform as they came in. "Oh, hi, guys." Four waved, and Eight gave a timid smile. "When you suggested a double date, I wasn't expecting a salmon run shift." Marie said to Marina. "Double date? Huh?" Four turned around. "Aren't you two a couple?" Eight asked. "Well, I, uhm..." Marie turned a little pink, and averted her eyes from Four. "Yeah, well, aren't you?" Four asked Eight, smugly. "I mean, we haven't kissed yet, if that's what you're asking." "No. Have you two become girlfriends?" Four deadpanned. "Well, like, don't you need to kiss... to become official...?" Eight rubbed the back of her head. Four smirked. "You say that like you want it to happen." "Do not!" Four started laughing. "Ha, you're too scared to admit it!" Eight stamped her foot. "If you two _children_ are done arguing, we've got a shift to work." Marie pointed out. "Wow. Flustered to snarky in a heartbeat. No wonder she likes you so much, you're so similar." Eight said. "Let's get this over with."

"Oh my god! What the heck is that thing?!" Eight yelled, running for her life from a massive metal snake vehicle. "Steel eel, the salmonid is at the tail." Four yelled over her shoulder. "Carp, I won't be able to make it. The tide is too high. Either I fall in the water or die to this thing. I could run, but then I would probably get backed into a corner. Hm..." Eight muttered, trying to think of a way out of the situation. The weeks in the metro were finally paying off. The steel eel started charging at her, and she dodge rolled out of the way. "Oh, thank god I have these dualies. But wait, what's that thing underneath me? Do I-" A massive fish came out of the ground without warning, and it dragged Eight down with it. Eight reached around herself to grab onto something, anything, and gripped a metal bar. She pulled as hard as she could, and the massive fish surfaced to finish the job. Eight scrunched her eyes shut and grit her teeth, preparing for the intense pain she was about to feel. But it never came. Instead, she heard a gagging noise, and then an explosion. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a trio of golden eggs on the ground, and Four reaching down to help her up. Marina and Marie showed up to grab the eggs, and Four went with them, leaving Eight by herself. The wave ended, and the quota was met. The weapon in Eight's hands vibrated rapidly, and then disappeared. They reappeared a second later. "Dualies again? That brella that Four had would have been cool." Eight shrugged it off. Out of the blue, the sky began to darken.

A rattling sound could be heard, with the small squeaks of smallfries along with it. Eight turned around to see a hulking figure. It looked like some kind of tripod grill, but it was leaking the green goo that salmonids trailed behind them all the time. It started to shake. "Eight, get out of there!" Marie's voice crackled from the walkie talkie on Eight's belt. Eight didn't know what was happening, so she ran. She ran, as fast as she could. She didn't turn around until she heard it stop. Pink tails emerged from it, flicking green stuff everywhere. A barrage of ink came from behind Eight as Four's splatling whirred to life. Marie's charger shot at the tails, taking them down one by one. A brella pushed its way forward with Marina trailing behind, taking shots at the grill thing as she went. Shortly after, their shift ended, and they all went to get food from Crusty Sean.

"What's kraken, guys? Getting dinner?" He greeted them like he knew them all, welcoming but laid back. "Galactic Seanwich, please." Four slammed cash on the counter, and Sean slid her a tray. She sat down, and immediately began scarfing down her food. "You do know that forks exist, right?" Marie said, sitting down. "That burned a lot of energy, I'm hungry. Give me a break." Marie chuckled. "You could at least share. I mean, look at those two." Marie pointed over her shoulder at Eight and Marina, and Marina gave Eight a sip of her drink, and Eight practically melted. "Psh, as if, those two are hopeless." "Stop acting, I know how soft you can get." "Yeah, you're one to talk, miss 'I don't hold hands with people.' You're lucky your eyes are so deep it's hard to tell whether you mean things or not." Four and Marie continued to one-up each other until they were both just flirting but it sounded like they were arguing. "That escalated quickly." Marina said, making Eight laugh. "Yeah, no kidding. At least they still love each other." Marie shot up from the table. "You can't confirm that." Eight stood up herself. "I beg to differ." Marie smirked. "I'll only admit it if you tell Marina you love her, and think she's cute." Eight shook her head. "If you like her so much, you tell her." "Yeah, but then my soon-to-be girlfriend over there would feel bad." "So you admit that you like her! I win! Ha!" Eight put her hands on her hips, and smugly watched as Marie slowly turned pink. Four loudly slurped her lemonade. "If you're going to eat, do it properly." Marie picked up a plastic fork from the cutlery tray and cut off a bit of the sandwich with the edge. "You're going to ruin your clothes." She said. She held up the fork with the food on it, and Four reluctantly opened her mouth and allowed Marie to handfeed her. Eight sat back down. "You're cute, but I don't want to say it in public." "Hm? D-do I embarrass you?" Eight shook her head, and pointed to the large gaggle of fanboys behind her, arguing over who should get to talk to her first. "Oh, don't mind them. They follow me everywhere. I've even seen some, well, questionable art of me online." Marina visibly cringed as she said this. "Well, wanna come to my place?" Marina asked, back to her usual sweet demeanor. "Oh, alright. Sure." "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to..." One of the tentacles in her hair rotated a bunch as she said this, and she was being fidgety. "No! It's okay, I'll come. Don't worry." Marina's face lit up. "Okay, let's go!" She grabbed Eight's hand, and off they went.

Once they reached the large mansion where Marina lived with Pearl and her Parents without being followed, Marina unlocked the door and brought Eight inside. "Wow, this... You live here? That's so cool. I haven't been out of my hospital room until the other day, when we, well, went to the mall, but I wasn't expecting you would live here!" Eight looked like her head might explode. "It's not that big a deal. Come on, let's go to my room." Marina took Eight's hand and led her up the stairs to her bedroom. She opened the door, flipped a switch, and the ceiling opened into an observatory. "Woah! Did you make this?" Eight was getting more and more amazed. "Well, I designed it. Pearl hired people to build it. There's a full moon tonight, you know." Marina's eyes were full of stars, but Eight had no clue what she was talking about. "Moon? What's that? I haven't even seen stars before, so I just listened to your descriptions when you came to visit me every other day." Marina giggled. "Well, just wait another hour. I have something to show you."

Once an hour had passed, it was dark and the moon was up. They laid down on Marina's bed, and stared at the sky as Marina pointed out stars and planets. "That's not it, though." Marina stood up, and Eight did the same. "Okay. Put your hand on my waist." Eight did as she was told. Marina placed her hand on Eight's shoulder, and extended her other arm to grip Eight's hand. "What are you doing?" Eight asked, looking Marina in the eyes. "Mirror my feet. Do the opposite of what they do." Marina moved her foot forward, and Eight accidentally did the same. "Oh, no, I stood on your foot, I messed it up-" Marina put her index finger on Eight's mouth. "It's okay, try again." They spent two hours practicing it, until the door opened. Eight had Marina in a dip, where Eight was leaning forward, one of her hands cradling Marina's back and the other cradling her head. Marina doing the same, but she was leaning backwards. "Hey, Marina, have you seen my phone? It's not in-" Pearl looked at them, and the pose they were in. She backed away, and slowly closed the door. Eight leaned in further, her eyes closing as she did so. Their lips met. They pulled away after a second or two. "We can't tell Four about this, she's going to make fun of me." Eight whispered. Marina started to laugh, and leaned back forward. "You can stay here, with me, if you want." Marina whispered back. Eight smiled, and their foreheads pressed together. "That would be nice." They spent the rest of the night cuddling, until Eight fell asleep.


	6. Ambush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavio returns.

Marie waved Four goodnight, and went to Octo Canyon to do some surveillance for a little while. She noticed a patch of ink on the ground, and stepped over it. "Huh. That's- Oh... My god..." She looked at the shattered snow globe in front of her, and all of a sudden, everything went black.

Callie slid off the sofa to get ready for bed. She saw something moving in the hallway, but didn't think much of it. She brushed her teeth, and was about to get dressed when she had a bag placed over her head. "Marie? Is that you? This isn't funny, I-" And she was hit over the head.

Marina put a blanket over Eight, and went to get into her pajamas in the bathroom when she felt pressure on her neck, and lost consciousness.

In the morning, Pearl got out of bed, and went to wake Marina up. "Marina, wake up. We have stuff to do." After no response, she opened the door, to see Eight in Marina's bed. "Hey, Eight! What did you do to Marina?!" Eight slowly opened her eyes. "Wait, Marina's not here? What- Where is she?!" Eight clutched at her hair, and started to breathe heavily. "Oh, no, this isn't good. Where's Marina, is she safe, is she okay?" "That's what I'm asking! Aren't you supposed to know?! She's your girlfriend!" Pearl's eyes widened. "But you two live together! Shouldn't you know?!" Eight was beginning to hyperventilate. Pearl slowly took a breath. "Okay, it's okay. We can get through this." They talked for a few minutes about what to do, and they searched the house. Marina was nowhere to be found. "Go check your room, I'll check my phone for messages." Pearl pointed Eight out the door, and dashed up the stairs. Pearl checked her phone. One new message. She opened it up.

 _Pearl, I've left to rejoin the octarians. You wouldn't understand, with your miniscule inkling brain. Don't try and come after me, it won't work. Goodbye._ Pearl covered her mouth, and tears started to fall. But wait. Marina was too sweet to say things like this. Something wasn't adding up. She ran back down the stairs. "Eight! Come back!" Eight turned around from the end of the driveway. "What?" Pearl showed Eight her screen. "That doesn't sound like her. Is there anything else?" Pearl checked. "Yeah, messages from agent Three and Four. Callie and Marie are missing, too. Four says she checked, and the place where they were keeping DJ Octavio captive has been breached. He must have something to do with this. They're meeting up near the entrance to Octo Canyon in Inkopolis. Let's go."

When they arrived, Three and Four were yelling at each other, with the inklings and octolings around them looking at them, questioningly. "Calm down! We'll find them, it's going to be fine!" Four was attempting to get Three to stay calm. "My girlfriend is missing, how am I supposed to be calm about this?!" Three yelled back. "Both of you be quiet!" Pearl shouted, getting in between the two. "We'll split up. You two go to Octo Canyon, Eight and I will go to the metro, now that there's an easy way in and out. Meet back up right here in three hours. Now go!" Pearl belted out orders, and then she and Eight ran towards the stairs to the metro. "Okay, Eight. We can do this." Pearl said. Eight nodded, and they stepped forward into the darkness.


	7. Target one and two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callie and Marie are found.

After weeks of searching, the team finally finds a clue on where Callie and Marie are located. "Guys!" The door to Pearl's studio burst open, and Four came running in. Eight looked up from the table where she was sitting, hunched over a laptop. "What?" Eight sounded bitter. Eight had been bitter since she and Pearl had searched the metro.

"Okay, Eight. We can do this." Pearl said. Eight nodded, and they stepped forward into the darkness. As soon as they reached the main station, Eight started to have a panic attack. She remembered all of the pain she went through there, but she tried not to show how terrified she was. They were down there for what felt like years. They called it a day, and Eight had been doing research while the other three went on searches since then.

"I found a clue on where Callie is." Three shot up at this. "Where?" She asked, intently. "You know how Marie and I were doing recon work? They're on the level below where we were! I was down there looking around, and I saw that the next level looked like some kind of arena. It was pink and green." Four explained to Three and Pearl. Eight wasn't listening. If the others were going to go find the squid sisters, they could go ahead. Eight needed to find Marina. She had barely been able to sleep, due to nightmares of Marina getting hurt. She slept on the floor of Marina's room, quivering. How could she sleep when the only person she loved was gone? They didn't know each other for long, but they loved each other and that was enough for Eight. She would think about the night they danced together, and the day at the mall. She spent hours looking at blueprints of the metro on her laptop, which Pearl had bought for her so she could do research on stuff and be on the chatlogs. Pearl, Four, and Three made a plan to go get Callie and Marie. Eight would be holding down the fort for a few days while they were gone. "Alright, Eight. We'll be back in a few days. Do whatever you need. We have security, so you can leave if necessary." Pearl told her, before walking out the door. Eight sighed as soon as the door shut, and waited until they were out of sight before going upstairs and looking at her new gear on the table. Neo octoling armor. She put it on, and left the sunglasses behind. She didn't like how they looked. She slid open a window, and climbed down the side of the house. She took a bus to Inkopolis, and went to the metro. She inhaled, and held it for a few seconds. She breathed out, releasing all her fear while doing so. Once again, she entered the dark, relentless chasms.

The journey through Octo Canyon took a decent amount of time. Once they reached the lowest level, the large gladiator arena, they were met with the ground shaking. A massive automated stage, like the one four fought was walking towards them on massive feet. Singing started to echo around them, coming from speakers. Four squinted. "There they are!" She lifted her splatterscope. "They have some kind of... scarves, I think. They're implanted in their necks. We need to pull those out." Three and Pearl nodded, as the massive vehicle walked towards them. "Wait, it's... not weaponized. So then-" Before she even asked her question, it was answered. The arena split into three, and they were all separated.

Eight slammed her foot into the equipper. "You do know how much that cost, right?" Came C.Q's monotone voice from behind Eight. "Shut it, sea pickle." Eight's voice had an edge to it as she said this. She rammed at the glass doors that let her enter the test, and they broke off the hinges. "You're destroying thousands of coins worth of hard work. I ask that you stop." C.Q continued on. Eight turned around, and stomped towards him. She picked him up, and threw him into the train. He managed to stick to the wall without getting hurt, but the train door slid shut. It screeched to life, and it sped away. Eight was alone again.

Four watched as the octosamurai rose from the ground, one final time. "You can't be serious." It was wearing full armor instead of the usual leather jacket, and its roller was twice the size it was the first time Four fought it. This was going to be hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I based scarves off of jojo flesh bud


	8. Eight's journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight finds Marina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the third to last chapter in the octavio arc! More story arcs to come.

Four dodged out of the way half a second before the roller was slammed on the ground. She slid along the ground as close to the octosamurai as she could, due to the roller being huge. She dropped bombs as she moved, since the splatterscope would do no good against such an agile close-range enemy. She got more and more tired with each dodge, until she eventually inked the samurai enough for it to explode and enter its tentacle form. Something was different, though. It dropped its roller this time. Four looked at the roller, and it slowly began to change from turquoise to yellow. Four walked over toward it, and grasped the massive handle. Judging by the pen-shaped tip, it was a flingza roller. Something still seemed different about it, though. She swung it at the tentacle, and it immediately exploded into a shower of yellow ink. The samurai slowly rose up from the puddle it respawned in, its armor shed. It unsheathed a massive sword, made from ink, held together by bubbles. After blocking multiple precise hits from the sword, Four managed to coat it in ink. It didn't die this time, though. Four walked over to where it was laying on its back, breathing heavily. She looked at the sharp tip of the roller. She shut her eyes, lifted up the massive roller, and plunged the tip into the stomach of the octosamurai. As soon as she stabbed it, she was knocked back by a massive wave of yellow ink. She almost fell off the platform, but one of her hands barely managed to hold onto the ledge and pull herself up. It was finally over. He was finally gone.

Eight walked through the test, and sat on an edge above the void below her. "I miss you." She whispered, and a tear dripped from her eye. She imagined Marina next to her, pointing out all of the little drawings on the walls left by octolings before they escaped. She was the last one to get out. She looked at her calloused hands, and the massive orb next to her. She remembered how much she struggled here, the barrages of ink constantly hitting the orb until its eventual destruction. She sat there for hours, making sure that nobody was nearby. After a while, she climbed up to the station platform, and stepped onto the train tracks. She balanced herself, running as fast as she could, although that wasn't saying much. She held herself against the wall, looking at the signs for different tunnels. For some reason, the train hadn't shown up yet. She made it to central station, and pressed a button to call the train. It arrived, but was far emptier than usual. Even Iso Padre wasn't on there. As soon as she stepped on, the doors shut and it immediately started moving.

Since Three doesn't matter in this arc, we're skipping straight to Pearl fighting the octoshower.

Pearl let out a sigh of relief after seeing that Four made it and that Three had, too. Three looked substantially less damaged than Four, due to the octostomp being easy for her. Pearl twirled her inkbrush around in her hands, and took a breath. She held it, and waited. "Alright, chump, who are you throwing at me?!" She shouted, at no one in particular. Something finally began to rise from the puddle of ink, and Pearl's face twisted from one of smugness to one of confidence. She readied her brush. "It's going to be that stupid oven, isn't it?" She muttered. But as the slanted hat shape rose from the ink, her confidence faltered. "Oh my god. Really? And no platforms, either. What do they expect me to do, fly?" Pearl said, snarkily. "Bring it, punk." She snarled. An inkrail began to generate itself, and it coiled around the octoshower. "Time to cleanse this scum. Wow, great line, Pearl. I'll come up with something better later." She muttered, and stepped onto the rail. She swiped at the octocopters, to no avail. She decided to leap onto the thing, and grab at the chains the octocopters were using to hold it up. She managed to hit them from there, and the octoshower came crashing down. She took out the tentacle on top, and dived into the open hole into the thing's circuitry. She tore all of the wires out of the ink production ducts, and ink started spewing everywhere. "Ew, gross!" She stomped on an important-looking circuit board, and threw herself out of it as internal sirens began to blare. It slowly fell past the edge of the platform, and exploded in the water below. The other two platforms met with the main one with the stage, but Pearl's platform stayed where it was. She was just a spectator now.

Four's tired arms lifted the huge roller, while Three held onto the massive face of the octostomp, which fell off once she had destroyed it. Three threw the face of the octostomp, and it sliced the stage in half. The legs stumbled, and fell. Marie leapt to the ground, and pulled out her signature weapon, the charger. Four launched ink across the ground with the roller, and swam out of the way of Marie's shots. She got closer and closer with each dodge, until she was too tired to keep moving. She watched as Marie aimed straight for her head, and pulled the trigger. It hit Four straight in the forehead, but she didn't die. She looked at the damage indicator on her watch, and she was only one point away from death. That should have been fatal, unless the shot wasn't fully charged. Something in Marie was holding back. "So, finish me off then." Four wheezed, barely managing to prop herself up on the roller. Marie robotically walked towards four. Four threw a bomb once Marie got close enough to her. "Ha, pathetic. You missed." Marie turned around, to see where the bomb landed. Four used her last remaining strength to kick Marie's back, making her fall down. Four was beginning to lose consciousness as she gripped the scarf implanted in Marie's neck and tore it out of her. She threw the thing into the depths below, and collapsed on the ground.

Eight slept on the train, until it slid to a stop. She opened her eyes, got up, and stepped out of the train into a large circular room. She saw Marina standing on a raised platform. "Marina! Oh, I've missed you so-" Marina raised her arms, and two massive green and purple tentacles rose from off the floor. Marina clenched one of her fists, and one of the tentacles grabbed Eight. Marina made a throwing motion, and opened her hand as she did so. Eight was slammed against a wall, and fell to the ground. The tentacle grabbed her foot, and repeatedly threw her against the floor, until it got carried away, and threw her into the train. It grabbed at her, but the train doors closed, and the train sped off. "Oh, number 10,008. You were meant to die." Eight clutched at her side with one hand, and grabbed C.Q with her other hand. She slammed him against the wall, until he started to ooze something. "You little-" Eight stomped on C.Q, and he went limp. She felt for a pulse. He was still alive, but was decently damaged. The train started moving, since C.Q wasn't the one that made the train move. It was controlled by a touchpad in the front car of the train. She brought it to central station, limped out onto the platform, and her entire body crumpled.


	9. Tirades and ranting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gets mad at Eight for being reckless.

It took a while for Four to wake up. She opened her eyes, and the arena was back into one large square. Pearl was sitting cross-legged, doodling on the ground with her inkbrush. She looked tired. "How long was I out?" Four croaked. Pearl yawned. "It's one A.M. We started fighting at, what, eight? And here I was, thinking we fight at night. At least-" She yawned again. "The lighting was cool. If you don't mind, I'm gonna catch a few Zs..." Pearl drifted to sleep, and Four sat there. She carressed Marie's cheek for a few minutes, and stood up. She super jumped back to their camp, and grabbed their gear. She then came back down, and got out some canned fruit and a spoon. She ate some pineapple, and drank the juice. She put the can in the recycling bags, and got out her headphones and phone. She put on her spotify playlist, and danced for a few hours, until Callie woke up. She rubbed her neck, and felt a massive crater. "What the heck?" She said. Four turned around. "Oh, you're awake! It was really boring to be here by myself. Want some fruit?" Four plopped down on the ground, and slid her headphones down to be around her neck. "Oh, uh... Sure?" Callie sat down across from Four, who tossed her some canned pears, and another spoon. "I have some explaining to do." "Heck yeah, you do!" Callie snickered. "Octavio planted a scarf thing in your neck that implanted a tendril in your brain that controlled your body." Callie cringed. "Ew! Now I have a massive hole in my neck! Was that even safe to rip it out like that?" Callie laughed, jokingly, and took a bite out of a pear slice. "I mean, it would probably rip your brain out if we didn't do it right. Plus, the skin and bone repaired as soon as we removed it. I think he implanted it thinking he would have to change it a bit before making a final version, so he needed a way to remove it safely." Callie shrugged. "Just a theory, though." Four saw movement in her peripheral vision, and turned her head. Marie was stirring, and slowly sat up. "Hey, cous." Callie waved. Marie gently waved back. Four's eyes watered, and she practically flew towards Marie, knocking her back down. "Whoa, slow down, private. It's okay." Four rubbed her sobbing face into Marie's neck, on the side without a massive hole. "I missed you too, but this is excessive." Marie turned a little pink, and frowned. She planted a kiss on Four's head, and that shut her up. "It's not worth celebrating. Where's Eight?" Four shook herself out of her trance, and said; "Eight's at Pearl's place, she's researching blueprints of the metro and stuff." Marie's face contorted into one of nervousness. "Haven't you read her octarian army file?!" Marie shouted. "No...?" Four sounded confused. "She's known for being reckless and going on suicide missions! You seriously thought she would stay there _by herself?_ " Four slowly nodded. "You're coming with me, we're looking for her." Marie grabbed Four's hand, and they made their way to the exit of Octo Canyon.

Three and Pearl woke up a bit after Four and Marie left, and Three looked around to see Callie, who was attempting to bandage the hole in her neck. "Callie!" Three ran to her, and hugged her. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay." Three and Callie shared a brief kiss, before they woke Pearl up to go back to her house. Once they got there with the rest of their camping supplies, Four and Marie were waiting at the door. "Eight isn't here." Pearl sighed. "That little-" She sounded irritated. "Hey, it's fine. She'll show up." Callie assured her. They went inside, and saw the open window in Pearl's room. Pearl stuck her head out the window. "EIGHT, I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU ONCE YOU GET BACK HERE!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Eight checked her wounds. Her side really hurt, and her legs weren't doing too great either. What was that thing that Marina had around her neck? Wasn't Octavio there, too? Eight slowly limped her way to the bus stop, and she was dropped off at Pearl's house. She limped her way around the back to the backyard, and climbed up the stairs to Pearl's balcony. Her body was so tired. She could hardly keep herself standing upright as she unlocked the door and went inside. She closed the door as quietly as possible, and turned to see an unamused Pearl sitting at the dining table. "Well, someone's here late." She said, a tone of frustration clearly in her voice. "Pearl, I-" Pearl slammed her hand on the table. "Shut it! We leave for under a week, and you nearly manage to get yourself killed! I told you to stay here, but no, you need to brave it yourself and go off knowing full well you probably won't come back!" Pearl stood up, shouting. "You can't follow a single order. You leave without telling me, you go off _on your own,_ now what, you're suffering organ damage!?" Pearl brought her hand up to her forehead and rubbed her sinuses. "But, I needed to find-" Eight stuttered. "I KNOW DANG WELL THAT YOU WANT TO FIND MARINA! BUT THIS ISN'T ABOUT HER! It's about you! I'm and that you don't even give us a warning! I care about you, Eight. We're a team. You need to stop going off on your own. It's not a good plan. You're too reckless. You're lucky I'm not kicking you out of the team right now, because I am ROYALLY ticked off." Pearl shut her eyes, and started to cry. "I lost my best friend. I'm not willing to lose you, too, just because of how freakin' selfless you are. You need to take care of _you,_ Eight. I know, I miss Marina, too. But please. We need to work as a team." Eight walked off towards Marina's room to get some sleep. As she walked, she got a sympathetic smile from Four, a disapproving look from Three, and Callie gave her a hug. Eight crashed on the floor, and fell asleep immediately.


	10. The concert's last act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina is rescued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eight hasn't fully recovered from her previous encounter with Octavio, but her motivation pushes her through to the end of the fight, and then she crashes.

Eight sobbed into her pillows. She had been in a terrible mental state since barely escaping the possessed Marina's wrath. Marie would bring her food, and try to help her feel better. Eight laid on the floor for a lot of the time she was in Marina's room, and stared out of the observatory at the stars. Outside her door, Pearl was losing sleep working on a plan to rescue Marina. On the few times she talked with Eight about her experiences against Marina, it only lasted for a few minutes, usually resulting in Eight having an anxiety attack or lashing out. Once the plan was finished, Pearl, Marie, and Four all came into Eight's room. Four handed her her neo octoling gear, and told her to put it on. "Why?" Eight looked up at Four, a hopeless look in her eyes. "We're finding Marina." Four put her hand on Eight's shoulder. "I don't know how much about her, but she's your friend, and I trust you. You can do this, Eight. We have your back." Eight nodded, and her face hardened a little. "Okay, I guess. Let's go."

The team stepped into the metro train, and Marie pointed the tip of her splatterscope at C.Q. "Don't move, or I'll have Eight curb stomp you again. We're taking control of this train." Eight went with Pearl to the head of the train, and her fingers flew across the touchpad. The train screeched into motion. "Are you really sure this will work?" Even though Eight was a bit more confident, she still doubted that the plan would work. The train slid to a stop. "Positive." Pearl replied. Eight cautiously lifted her borrowed Luna Blaster, given to her by a broken equipper. They stepped out, one by one. Instantly, Marina raised her arms, ready to attack. Marie shot her low-tide ink at Marina's head, stunning her for a minute. "Pearl, Four! Ink that wall!" She belted out, and Pearl and Four followed her orders. "Eight, you know what to do." Eight nodded, and slowly began scaling the platform wall to where Marina was. The low-tide ink wore off, and Marina shook herself back to reality. She chained attack after attack onto the other three, not noticing Eight making it onto the platform. Eight threw herself at Marina, knocking her down. She tore the bracelets controlling the tentacles from Marina's wrists. Marina threw her off to the side, and Eight began to fall. "EEEEIIIIIGHT!" Pearl cried out, reaching out her hand as Eight fell down into the endless abyss below. One of the massive tentacles reached over the edge of the circle. "Huh?" Pearl asked, in pure desperation. Eight slowly rose from the depths, the tentacle clinging to her around her waist. "Heya." She said, as she was gently dropped back onto Marina's platform. "What the-" A voice boomed over the area, shaking the ground. Octavio slowly came into view, floating down on yet another hovering platform. Eight pushed Marina down, placing her foot on Marina's chest. "What are you doing?! You wouldn't hurt your girlfriend, would you?" Octavio sounded desperate. Eight tore the parasitic tentacle from Marina's skin, and the skin slowly reformed. She threw it into the void below, and leapt onto Octavio's platform. "Guards, get her!" Marie shot down the octocommanders floating down from the sky on balloons. Eight held the luna blaster up to Octavio's forehead. "Come on, Eight, think about it! If you come back to my side, you can be my second in command! With your experience, we can reclaim what's ours!" Octavio attempted to persuade her. "Come on, Eight! Fillet that freak!" Pearl snarled from below. Eight lifted her left fist, the one not holding her weapon, and punched Octavio as hard as she could. "That's for kidnapping my friends. And this," Eight tapped the blaster against Octavio's head. "Is for all the other garbage you pulled! My sincerest apologies, commander. But I've gone rogue." Eight lifted Octavio up, and threw him into the void, his shouts fading away as he fell into the darkness.

Eight dropped back down to the main area, broke the control bracelets, and fell on the ground face first. Four and Marie locked eyes. Octavio was finally gone, banished to the depths of the metro. They crashed into each other, spinning around in circles, laughing. Pearl carried Marina and Eight onto the train one at a time, and waved Marie and Four over. "Come on, guys. Let's get out of this place." They talked on the ride to the central station, Marie eyeing C.Q. suspiciously the entire ride. Once they reached the surface, the three brought Eight and Marina to the roof of the off the hook recording studio, so that they could look at the sunset. Pearl leaned on the doorway, looking at the sky while Marie and Four sat on the ledge. Four let her hair down, and shook her head to get it back to its normal, wavy state. She let her long tentacle on the left drape over her shoulder. Marie leaned on the other shoulder. "Not bad, agent. Not bad." She said, and they went quiet for a while. Eight stirred and opened her tired eyes. She stood up, and put a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Walking toward the ledge, Eight looked up at the sky, mesmerized by the beautiful colors along the horizon. Movement behind her caught her attention, and she slowly turned around, letting her arms fall to her sides. Marina gasped, and toppled Eight, planting pecks all over her face. "Oh, I missed you! I wish you didn't have to see me like this, but- Oh, Eight!" Marina nuzzled her head into the crook of Eight's neck, and Eight gently embraced her. "I missed you too."


	11. A Cozy Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Initialize part 1 of 6 cuddle fluff fillers...  
> Initializing...  
> Loading cuddling...  
> Loading kissing...  
> Loading starry skies...  
> Loading complete!

Marina felt the bed tilt as Eight rolled right onto the edge. Half of her body was dangling off their bed, and her right leg was partially on the floor. "Eight..." She sleepily groaned. "You're tipping the bed over." She yawned, and wrapped her arms around Eight's stomach to pull her back onto the bed. It had been a week and a half since Marina was rescued, and she and Eight were making up for all the time they missed together. Marie had forced Four to live in the flat with her and Callie, and threatened to make Four start dieting if she didn't come. This scared Four into coming with Marie. Pearl had constantly been making fun of Eight for all the crazy stuff she did to get Marina back. Marina constantly swooned over how much Eight cared about her in response to this, normally making Eight turn red out of embarrassment. Marina did Eight's nails to be magenta, like Eight's hair, as well as dyeing the tips of her hair purple. Marina used "Truffle" as a common nickname for Eight, mainly used romantically. Eight decided to call Marina by her name. "It's a beautiful name." She said when Marina asked about it. Marina nuzzled the top of her head into the crook of Eight's neck. Eight's soft pajamas rubbed against Marina's bare legs, since she wore pajama shorts instead of pants like Eight did. Eight wore fully long-sleeved purple pajamas with a big picture of a seal on them. Marina had more of a shirtdress, with pajama shorts underneath. Her shirt was striped, with no graphic on it. They had a nice sleep.

Pearl slid the door open, and clapped loudly. "Wake up!" She shouted. Marina opened her eyes sleepily, and tried to get up, but the still-sleeping Eight held her down. Pearl walked over to them, and put an ice cube from the cup of water she was holding on Eight's forehead. "Oh, no, oh..." Eight mumbled. "Oh no... It's so cooooooold!" She sat up, and the ice cube fell off of her head and into her lap. She picked it up, and ate it. Marina slid out of her bed, and put her slippers on. Eight flopped onto the ground, barefoot, and picked herself up. "Very... graceful." Pearl said, looking down at the floor where Eight just was. Marina slid her poofy bathrobe on, and the three of them went down the stairs to the dining room. While Marina taught Eight how to make waffles, Pearl put some music on. A voice came to life on Pearl's phone. "This song is really sad. Who made it?" She walked over to see what Pearl was listening to. "I'm on some old human music archives, this is a band called 'Cavetown.' You like it?" Pearl smirked. "Well, yeah... It's sad, though. The things the singer talks about. I like this music genre a lot. The ukelele and stuff, it's calming for me. Plus, it's..." Eight turned a bit pink. "Kind of romantic." Pearl made a fake gagging noise. "Why are you so mushy all the time, jeez!" Marina set plates down at the table, stacked with food. "Mushy isn't bad. Besides, Eight's a marshmallow, what do you expect?" She asked, sweetly. Eight sat down across from Marina, with Pearl at the end of the table. "Pearl," Eight said, through a mouthful of lemon waffle. She swallowed. "If this is your parent's house, why don't they ever come to breakfast with us?" Pearl looked up, and laughed a bit. "They're almost always off doing business stuff somewhere. I usually have the whole house to myself. I can keep myself entertained, usually by teasing Marina about how head-over-heels she is for you." Marina rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. You better not bring that up on live TV, I'm never going to forgive you if you do." Pearl smirked. "What, are you gonna go hug your teddy bear over there-" Pearl pointed at Eight. "-So hard that she dead-up explodes?" Marina pouted after this, so Eight held her hand to make her feel better. "Don't worry about it, Marina. I've exploded before." Eight shrugged, and continued eating. "Pft- Ha!" Pearl burst out laughing. "Like that time that you moved the 8-ball backwards somehow?!" Pearl wheezed. "Oh, boy."

Eight wrapped the massive blanket around her and Marina in the massive cinema in Pearl's basement. The armrest between the seats was up, so they could cuddle while watching movies together. Marina wrapped her arm around Eight as she flipped through options on the huge flatscreen, and selected a show Eight had never heard of called "Steven Universe." A few hours later, they had gotten through around half of the show. Eight stood up and stretched. "Let's go get a snack." Marina stretched, and got up as well. Eight walked up the stairs to the main floor of the house with Marina trailing behind her, yawning. Eight put a pop tart in the toaster, and poured some milk into a cup. Once it was done, she took the pop tart out of the toaster and took a bite out of it. Marina dropped a teabag into a mug, poured some water in it, and put it in the microwave. "CURSE YOU, CALLIE! HOW COME YOU WIN, EVERY. SINGLE. GAME?!" Came Pearl's voice from her room upstairs. "She's gaming today." Marina explained, when she saw Eight's puzzled face. "I'm more of a console person myself. I play PC too, though." Eight had no clue what she was talking about, having never seen a videogame in her life. Eight finished her poptart and milk as Marina sipped her tea. "Mmmmm," Marina let out a sound of satisfaction as she swallowed the hot drink. "Wanna take a sip?" Marina carefully handed Eight the mug, and Eight sipped it. "Tastes like... ginger, but with some lemon in there, too. It's good. Better than coffee. I don't like that stuff." Eight grinned as she handed the mug back to Marina. "Finally, someone who likes tea more than coffee. It's such a nice, soothing feeling to drink something that warms you up on the inside, while not being too sweet or bitter. A lot of basic teas have different benefits, too. I normally drink chamomile before bed." Eight just stood and listened. Marina finished her drink, and rinsed the mug out in the sink. Eight put her dishes in the dishwasher. Marina slid off of the counter. "Besides, drinking tea reminds me of you. Soft, warm, kind. Amazing in every way." Marina mumbled. She let her hand fall, and Eight gently snaked hers into Marina's, fitting them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok look man human food and songs and stuff still exist okay and are still produced somehow. I'm not going into depth about it.


	12. Intimate Marina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intimate  
> In•ti•mate  
> Adjective  
> 1\. Closely acquainted, close.  
> also sorry for not posting this earlier I was simping for the song fresh start and a twirl that Josuke does in part 4  
> But come on man Marie's voice is beautiful  
> so is Marina's  
> Beautiful is just my default term for things I really like  
> anyhoo  
> enjoy

Eight quietly tiptoed back to Marina's room after using the bathroom. It was about four in the morning. The door gently clicked shut, and the bed creaked as Eight laid down. She was about to fall asleep, when she heard Marina move beside her. An arm came out from underneath her, and wrapped around her torso. Marina's forehead rubbed against the back of Eight's neck, sending a shiver down Eight's spine. Marina's other arm rested on Eight's side. Eight went with the cozy feeling of being hugged, and fell asleep.

Eight woke up to zipping noises, which she assumed to be Marina getting dressed. Once she heard the door click shut, she got up and into her null armor replicas, which were actually quite comfy. She didn't wear the helmet, though. After walking out into the main house, she bumped into Marina, who was on her way to the kitchen. She stumbled, and Eight grabbed her hand just in time so that she didn't fall over. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Marina shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm in a rush, because I have work today. You could work for Pearl and I, if you... were interested in finding a job." Marina fumbled with her hands, before backing Eight up to the wall. She nervously put her hands on either side of Eight's head. Eight looked into her flustered eyes as Marina slowly inched closer to her. "Come on, 'Rina, we have to go." Pearl walked up to them, and pulled Marina away from Eight. "Save the affection for after work." Pearl sighed, exasperated. She and Eight exchanged looks, Pearl shooting Eight a look that was a warning of the consequences of hurting Marina, and Eight cowered, intimidated. "Bye, Truffle. Take it easy today." Marina pecked Eight on the cheek after putting on her boots, and headed out the door.

_CrispyCrisps: Hey, Eight. Me N Marie are going out 2day, thought you might wanna come 2._

_Agent 2: Four, dates are a two person thing. As long as she does her own thing but stays in our line of sight, she can come._

_Metrofreak: Who changed my name? I wanted to be Starjump >:(. But sure, meet outside of Pearl's house._

Eight had gotten a phone (courtesy of Marina,) so she didn't have to bring her laptop with her everywhere. After around ten minutes, a motorcycle pulled up in front of Pearl's house. The rider in the back hopped off, and slammed a helmet onto Eight's head. "Ow... What was that for?!" Eight grumbled as she sat down on the tail end. The second rider wrapped their arms around the first rider's waist, and Eight just fearfully gripped the seat. Once they reached a decently dark alley near the square, the bike stopped. The first rider lifted their helmet off. Marie swung her head around to fix her hair. Four reached her arms up as high as she could. "That was fun." Eight fell over sideways, stood up, and vomited in a corner of the alley. "Eight, oh my god-" Four made sure she was okay, when a door opened to their right. "Here are the keys, Sheldon." Marie twirled her keys around her finger, and tossed them to the boy in front of her. "Eight, feel free to roam around the square, just don't go too far." Marie and Four left to go on their date at a fancy restaurant they had a reservation at, leaving Eight to her own devices. She wiped off the vomit that dripped from her mouth with a tissue, and threw it away. She walked into the main square. Dear lord, was it big.

The bell at the front of Ammo Knights rang as Eight came in. "Hello, hello!" Came the nasally voice of the boy running the shop. "What can I do for you?" Eight looked at the variety of weapons on the rack behind him. "Could I get a Luna Blaster? Just a normal one." Sheldon nodded, and went to the back of the shop. He came back with a large box. "How much?" Eight asked, pulling out her phone. "Well, since this is your first time, and you're friends with Marie, this one's on the house." Eight looked up. "Wait, really?" Sheldon nodded enthusiastically, his helmet bouncing up and down on his head. Eight put her new weapon in her bag. "Thanks!" She said as she walked out the door. She navigated around jellyfish, and somehow appeared in front of Off the Hook's recording studio.

"Okay, so, here's the schedule for the next few days. Marina sat down with a printout and a can of soda. Movement through the glass window caught her attention. "Pearlie, you see that?" Marina pointed at the waving Eight a little ways away from the studio, a huge grin on her face. Pearl looked at where Marina was pointing. "Oh, snap! It's Eight! Hi, Eight!" Pearl waved back, Marina giving a timid, but sweet smile. Something caught Eight's eye, and she dashed in its direction. Marina moved to get up. "We still have a few hours until we're done with work." Marina sighed, and sunk back into her chair.

After around two hours, Marina left the studio to go home, and went to check in the plaza for Eight. She saw a crowd of jellyfish surrounding someone at the dance arcade game near the Shoal, and went to check it out. She looked at Eight, who was dancing to Ebb and Flow without a care in the world. Once the song was over, Eight was asked for her name to go on the leaderboard. She tapped in the word "TRUFFLE." Marina smiled, and Eight hopped off so that someone else could play. Marina took her hand, and pulled her in close. "O-Oh, h-hi, Marina..." Eight turned pink. "I didn't know you were d-done with work, yet." Eight gulped. "I, um, bought a Luna Blaster today." Eight said awkwardly, Marina gazing deeply into her eyes. "That's great!" Marina said, out of the blue. "It means we can finally play turf war now. Come on, let's go home." Marina pulled Eight by her hand through the square, past Marie and Four, who were getting ready to go back to their flat. Eight waved as they passed, and Four sent finger guns. "Bye, Eight!" Marie yelled, over the revving of the motorcycle engine. And then, Marie and Four sped off.

Once Marina and Eight got home, they both showered, and got into different clothes. Eight decided to get into a sweater and jeans, just for a more comfortable outfit. Marina just wore her main outfit, but a different set. They went down to the cinema again, to watch more movies together, but mostly because the seats were good for cuddling. After an hour or two, Eight stood up and stretched. "Let's go get a drink." Marina stood up, but was hesitant as Eight walked towards the stairwell. "Eight?" Eight turned around. "Hm? What-" Marina pinned Eight to the wall. "What are you doing?" Eight looked her in the eyes, questioningly. They shared a passionate kiss, and it lasted for a fairly long time. The door opened above them. "Hey, you guys got room for one more? I brought snacks and soda, so you guys don't have to-" Pearl stopped on the bottom step, in her pajamas and a pair of white and pink socks, to see Marina pinning Eight to the wall by her wrists while they made out. "Okay then." Marina pulled away and blushed, a deep shade of red appearing on her brown skin. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and went to go sit back down. Eight sat down next to her, and gently embraced her. Marina suddenly leaned onto her side, bringing Eight with her. Marina's dream was finally being fulfilled. She was spooning the love of her life. It was the happiest moment she had had for a very long time.


	13. Stage date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina and Eight visit a few different stages, one of them being a performance.

Eight ran at Marina, knocking her to the ground in order to get the pigeons to leave her alone. They were in The Reef, which, as Marina has said before, has aggressive pigeons that try to bite her hair. "Leave my girlfriend alone, you dumb birds!" Eight swung her arms around her head, scaring the pigeons off. "Thanks, Truffle." Eight helped Marina stand up, and Marina gave her a peck on the cheek. They super jumped back to the diving bay, and walked back through the lobby into the square. Marina checked her phone. "Carp! The concert is in an hour, I need to go get ready. Love you!" And with that, Marina sped off to her studio to get ready. "Marina is so cute. I would totally make her my girlfriend. That's why I bought a backstage pass to the concert!" A male inkling boasted to his friend. "I dunno, I like Pearl. I'm not saying you're one of them, but the Marina fans... well, they... I don't really know how to say it. They, uh... Have some issues." His female friend replied. Eight rolled her eyes, and walked off to the bus stop to get to Pearl's house. Eight was finally going to her first Off the Hook concert, at none other than the Starfish Mainstage. Eight put on the attire Pearl had given her for the concert, a tube top with sweatpants and a necklace. Basically, Marina's old clothes, but without the bandana and the jeans. Once she finished getting dressed, she travelled back to the lobby of the diving bay, and jumped to the Mainstage. There were already a lot of inklings there, the sunset peaking over the stage. She walked up the steps to Judd, who was working as security. Judd looked her up and down, and opened the door. After slipping through the small gap, she noticed the vast quantity of empty space backstage. Sure, there was sound equipment, but that didn't take up that much room. A nice place to practice dancing.

"Watch it, kid." The inkling from before said, after bumping into Eight, who was twirling in circles. "I bought a pass. I'm sure you're just here for maintenance." He shrugged her off, and walked into the main backstage area. Eight followed, so she could go visit Marina. The show wouldn't start for another thirty minutes, so there was time. "Oh, Eight, you're here! Nice look." Pearl said from across the room, looking Eight up and down. Marina tried to make her way towards Eight, but was intercepted. "Hey. I'm Kevin. You're looking hot, as usual." The inkling said, slicking back his hair. "What? I'm just-" Kevin put his arm around Marina. "Don't bother with the employee. So, I was thinking, how about I take you to dinner after this? So we can... Get closer." Marina stood there, awkwardly. "I mean, she's not my employee, and I had plans-" He put his finger to her mouth. "I get it, I'm intimidating. Don't be afraid, baby." Marina looked at him, uncomfortable. He had backed her up against a wall, trying to pin her there. Pearl watched as Eight's fists clenched as he got closer to her. "Come on, Marina. Let's head out there. We can afford to start early. All the seats seem to be taken, anyway." Marina slipped away from the inkling, leaving a look of mild disappointment on his face. "Well, later, cutie." He shot her a wink. Eight glared daggers into his back. White-hot daggers. Tipped with poison. Which also contained lemon juice. He sat down in his luxury seat, and Eight sat on the floor. Then, the concert began. Eight let the music flow through her body, starting from the top down. The feeling was blissful.

Once the concert ended, Marina and Pearl came backstage once more. Marina let out a tired sigh, and slid down onto the floor next to Eight. "Anyways, as I was saying." Kevin walked over and squatted in front of Marina. "Wanna get dinner? I'll pay, then we can go to my place." He placed his hands on her shoulders. They slid down to rest on her hips. This made Eight snap. Her foot shot out from under her, striking him in the shin as hard as she could. "Get your hands off my girlfriend!" Eight yelled so loudly her voice was hoarse afterwards. "Tch, what, like she would date someone like you. You're only saying that because you think you have a chance with her." Eight bolted onto her feet. Pearl rushed over to restrain her. "Why, you little-" Eight struggled against Pearl. "Calm down, Eight. I'll ask security to-" Pearl made the mistake of loosening her grip. Eight broke free, and within less than a second, Kevin was on the ground with the wind knocked out of him, Eight's foot on his chest. "Jeez, what the heck? Get off of me!" He said, nervously. Eight dug her shoe further into his stomach. Pearl shrugged, and kicked him as well. "Stop harassing her, you jerk!" Pearl shouted, as Marina looked at them from her spot on the floor. Eight raised her fist, ready to strike. Marina peacefully made her way over, and pulled Eight away from him. "Shhhhh, it's alright." Marina gave her a kiss on the cheek. "He isn't worth it." Eight continued struggling. "I'm gonna kill him!" She muttered, and Marina believed she would actually do it if she broke loose. Pearl kept slapping him across the face, him wincing each time. "Hey. I know you're upset. Let's go home, okay? We can both shower and then I can make you some tea. Come on." Marina shakily stood up, not letting go of Eight's hand. "Let me go!" Eight snarled. "I'm not done beating him up yet!" She growled, a low hiss emanating from deep within her. Marina pulled her along with her, still trying to restrain her from beating the man to death. Marina sighed, and twirled Eight into her arms. She pressed on Eight's back, and they shared a kiss. "Come on. You can't help me with dinner until we shower." Eight groaned. "Fine. Next time I see him though, I won't hesitate to beat the life out of him if he touches you anywhere. Even your hands." "I love you too, truffle. Let's go home now." Marina pecked her on the cheek one last time, and walked the still fuming Eight home, where they drank tea, ate dinner, and cuddled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steven Universe reference Steven Universe reference  
> Also, writing these at 4 in the morning is taking its toll by making me have grammar mistakes and miniscule loopholes, so I'm going to edit some of these chapters.


	14. Debts to pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight still owes Marina points due to borrowing some, so Eight has to do what Marina says for a whole day, in order to consider it paid back. Of course, nothing sexual. Cuddles and cleaning- IN A MAID DRESS?! WHO DESIGNED THIS CHAPTER?!  
> . . .  
> I wrote this at three in the morning and it shows  
> I was planning on an equal balance of Eightrina and 24 but I wanted more gay octopi  
> I'm sorry

"Hey, cap." Eight stretched as she entered the train car with Marina. "You're both here. Good." Cap'n Cuttlefish shakily stood up, wobbling on his walking stick to balance himself. "What did you need us for? Is there some kind of disturbance in the-" "You still owe Marina 2,000 points. A borrower pays their debts." Eight's voice caught as the words sunk in. "...What?" The word came out, but it felt like she swallowed a rock. It scraped the inner lining of her stomach, weighing her down. "I'm not going back in there anymore, there's no way, I don't want to go back-" Marina put a gentle finger on Eight's lips. "No, we aren't sending you back to the metro. You just have to..." She got uncomfortably close to Eight's ear. "Do what I ask." She whispered, sending chills down Eight's spine. "Pearl has a few... conditions." Marina placed her hands on Eight's shoulders as she whispered the second part, making Eight both flustered and terrified. "So, how did I do?" Marina eagerly rushed back in front of Eight. "Marie told me to try to get your imagination going. Nothing much is going to happen, I just need my chores done. And maybe a stuffed animal to cuddle with." Eight let out a sigh of relief as Marina released her signature smirk. "That might change, though." Eight froze again. "Now come on, Truffle. Pearl will talk you through the conditions."

The door to Marina's room opened, and Eight stepped out, wearing a maid dress. "Is this really necessary?" She looked herself over, the silk rubbing against her skin. Pearl wheezed and fell to her knees. "You look so dumb!" She managed to croak through the laughing. "I think it's cute." Marina said, looking Eight up and down. "You aren't helping." Eight snarkily retorted. Marina giggled. "You get to make dinner tonight, but for now, hm... clean my bedroom." Eight looked at her, a look of dispair hidden deep beneath her exasperated eyes. "Fine." Pearl rose to her feet and pointed a finger at Eight. "You know the rules." Eight rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miss Marina." She made a small bow, and walked into Marina's room, fuming. She started off with the dusting. The room wasn't even messy, but Eight got the feeling that that wasn't what this was about. No, this was about Eight being humiliated in front of the girl she loved. Once the room was clean, Marina came in and sat down on the edge of her bed (which Eight made, blankets and pillows neat and tidy.) She crossed her legs. "Oh, Truffle?" Eight turned around from rearranging Marina's wardrobe. "Yes, Miss?" The irritation in her voice was so clear it was practically transparent. "Oh, how I long for affection, get me something to cuddle with." Eight sighed, and walked over to Marina's plush cabinet. "Ugh, can't you do anything right?" Marina said, dramatically. "What? But you said that-" Eight turned around, only to be suddenly ambushed by Marina, who pulled her down onto the bed. "Whoa- Miss, I have to keep working." Eight pretended to go along with it. Marina's face got closer to Eight's their eyes meeting. Marina closed her eyes, getting closer and closer to Eight. "Uhm..." Eight mumbled. A small shade of pink crept across Eight's face. "Really, I have lots to do, and-" Their lips met for a split second, and Marina wrapped her arms around Eight before she could get away. Eight groaned. She eyed the clock. Five more hours until this day was over, and she could finally get out of this dumb costume and stop referring to Marina as "Miss." Eight struggled against Marina's grip, to no avail. "Urgh, let me go!" Still, nothing. Marina nuzzled the top of her head into Eight's neck, sending a shiver down her spine. "Hey, stop that!" Eight flailed her legs. Even so, she couldn't escape the snuggles being given to her by her girlfriend. Of course, she really didn't mind, but still. 

Eight stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Three more to go. She slid a plate of food across the table to Pearl, who thanked her, and then started scarfing it down as fast as she could without getting hiccups. Nothing was as bad as her experiences in the metro, but this was really tiring Eight out. She watched as the zipper on Marina's bra-vest thing shook back and forth as she leaned across the table. It was mildly hypnotizing to watch something shiny move like that under fluorescent lights. Her head slowly slid down the side of her arm, until her forehead rested on the table. She already ate, but she sat with the other two anyway. She fell into a gentle sleep, her eyes drooping closed for a few minutes at a time. After around ten more minutes of Pearl gulping food down as fast as possible, using the excuse of "I didn't eat much today" whenever Marina pointed it out, Eight woke up and cleared the table. She got snacks for Pearl to play video games, and folded the laundry into neat stacks, which she then left on each owner's selective beds. One and a half more hours. Almost done. She went into the bathroom, got undressed, and wrapped a towel around her body. She went into the sauna across the hall, which was kept at a comfortable seventy degrees Fahrenheit, which inklings and octolings alike considered warm, since straight up hot water can kill them. She let out a sigh of pleasure as she dipped her feet into a shallow pool of warm water. It felt nice to be able to finally relax, but she knew it wouldn't last for long. She got out after a few minutes of practically melting into the seat beneath her. She went back into the hallway, wearing nothing but a towel while tying her hair into a small braid. Just as she reached the door, someone else came out. A rush of blood hit Eight full in the face, turning her bright red. Marina looked her up and down. "U-Uh..." Eight's eyes darted left and right, doing anything to avert Marina's gaze. After a moment of standing there awkwardly, she moved past Marina into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

She came back out, fully dressed and still redder than a third-degree sunburn. After checking the time, she finished all of the other things she still had to do as a temporary maid. Only ten minutes left. She was so exhausted. She got ready for bed, brushing her teeth and such. She went to grab her pajamas from her shared room, to find Marina sitting on the edge of the bed, in her pajamas and reading a book. Marina looked up, and patted the spot next to her. Eight flopped down next to her. Marina gently tipped her over so she was laying down, her head in Marina's lap. "You deserve rest." She gave Eight a kiss on the forehead, and stroked her hair as she drifted to sleep. The next morning, Eight woke up still in costume, Marina slumping over her, her book on the floor. She wiggled in a way that wouldn't wake Marina up, but so that she could see the book. "Romance tips." Eight said, under her breath. She couldn't help but smile that Marina was trying so hard for her. But for now though, she went back to sleep. This time, on a real pillow. Her arm resting across Marina's stomach. Maybe yesterday wasn't so bad.


	15. Standard park adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally made a 24 chapter  
> Finally  
> I was going to make more Eightrina shit  
> I had to restrain myself on that  
> Enjoy two idiots being two idiots at a public playground  
> (Okay y'all can read it now)

Four threw a rock into the pond and watched as water splashed everywhere. It made the nice "kerplunk" sound, though. Four watched small inklings and octolings alike swarm around Marie, reminding Four of bees. They were all so hyperactive, bouncing up and down as if they were going to pop if they stayed still for too long. Four felt a nice breeze blow across her face, swaying the plants around the pond. She stood up from where she squatted on the path, and walked over to Marie, who wore the biggest grin Four had ever seen. She sat at the swing set, and pumped her legs. Her sweatpants rubbed against her skin, keeping her legs warm. A gentle swing rhythm was formed. The wind that blew on her face as she swung felt blissful. The park was so calm, but so energetic all at the same time. The perfect balance. "Hey, nimrod! We gonna take a walk or what?" Marie walked over to Four, somehow managing to escape the buzzing mass of children. Four dug the heels of her sneakers into the barkchips, slowing herself down. She stood up once the swing reached a reasonable pace. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go." Four extended her hand. Marie looked down at it, and intertwined their arms instead. Four scoffed. "Hands are gross. Especially yours." Marie teased. "Ha ha, very funny." Four rolled her eyes, and they started on their walk through the path in the woods.

Four looked up at the gaps in the trees, rays of sunlight beaming down from them. Marie twirled around in front of her, lifting the fallen leaves from the ground. They gently fluttered back to the edges of the path. "You know, I didn't really expect you to be the nature type." Four said, trailing behind Marie. Marie looked over her shoulder. "Well, to tell the truth, I mostly rely on you and Marina for tech stuff. I work on my podcast, but that's an easy thing to do. Even though the inside is cozy, I really like the outdoors." Four stuck her arm out to the side, signaling for them to stop walking. "Hi, little snail." She knelt down and scooped a snail off of the ground. "Ew, you're going to get slime all over your hands." Four gently stroked the shell of the snail and looked up. She smirked. Marie put her hands up in a bracing position. "Four, no." Four took a step towards her. "No, you're going to get slime on my hands too, Fooouuur!" She squeaked as Four rushed at her, snail in hand. After dodging out of Four's way, Marie grabbed a clump of dead leaves from the ground. "Ha ha! You think that can-" Marie threw them. Directly into Four's mouth.

"Pthhpthp." Four spat out dried leaf bits. "They're plasthered thoo my thongue!" Four set the snail in the ditch, and continued spitting and sputtering. "Fine, you win. Just don't throw leaves in my mouth anymore, they feel weird." Four said, agitated. She got the last piece of leaf out of her mouth, and they continued on their walk.


	16. Trauma and fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to skip the final filler and move straight to a story arc. I was originally planning on writing a chapter about Four and Marie working on Marie's podcast, but something happened with one of my friends recently, and I just wasn't in the mood to write something cozy. I miss that friend, and another friend of mine, but my relationship with him wasn't healthy. I decided to save the other story arc for the next story-based fic in the series, since it's two arcs per fic. Sorry!  
> Three has a massive grudge against octarians n octolings, and is really harsh on Eight. I put a bit of myself into this chapter. Mainly in Eight losing it. It's not symbolic of my relationship with my ex-friend, but rather with my parents. I won't go into depth. The way Eight acts symbolizes the violence I've built up over years of emotional and mental abuse. That's all there really is to it.

The mechanical whirring and clicking filled Eight's head as she watched Three's autobomb skitter towards an octarian sitting on a raised platform. As much as she tried, she couldn't get the cacophony of clicking out of her mind. She shut her eyes, but everything got worse. The constant explosions, her nearly fatal injuries. The fact that she even survived that day seemed almost impossible. Four leaned over to Eight and put her hand on Eight's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We'll be okay. You can always go home if it gets too bad, okay? We'll understand." Four gave Eight a small smile, and Eight sheepishly curled the edges of her lips. A loud "Bang!" made Eight flinch. She couldn't look. Even if there weren't any remains, she couldn't look. She started hyperventilating, the small square of space between her and death flashing across her eyes. The ringing in her ears became unbearable, and she fell to her knees. A muffled voice could be heard through the noise, concerned, but kind. "Eight." It called out to her. She looked up, to see Marina standing a few feet away, arms outstretched. She stood up and ran to Marina, but the ground fell away beneath her, her body falling into an endless void. She reached out, for someone to catch her. But nobody came. "-T. Eight. It's okay. You're going to be okay. It's over, and it's never going to happen again." Four's voice cut through the noise, its comforting tone making the fall much less... terrifying. Eight opened her previously scrunched eyes, her body shaking. Tears ran down her face. "Four, take Eight back. She's been through enough for today." Callie's voice came through the radio. "Oh, grow up, will you? Yeah, we've all gone through stuff, but do you see any of us crying about it?" A sharp tone cut through the thin air. "You're too soft. All you do is cry, and complain. You aren't an agent. You're just some weakling who's only here because her girlfriend vouched for her." Three's exasperated voice shot through Eight's heart. "You don't care about the mission, you only care about how many lives are lost. They've killed so many of us, and yet you still feel bad for them? That's pathetic. You aren't special, or important, just because you saved the world. Heck, it wasn't even you-" "Three, that's enough." Four tried to interject. "It was Pearl. You can't even manage to do things by yourself. You wouldn't understand what it's like to be stressed because you're just... Some stupid octoling!" Three blurted, angrily. Eight shakily stood up, looking down at her feet. "Just because you have some stupid mental disorder is no excuse to let the squidbeak splatoon down." Three muttered. "So I'm just some stupid octoling with mental problems, huh?" Eight's voice was filled with rage. Three turned back around, and sighed in irritation. She continued to walk forward. "Eight, what are you-" Eight stomped up behind Three and kicked her to the ground. She dug the heel of her shoe into Three's back. "That's ALL I AM TO YOU?!" "Eight, stop-" "I'M JUST SOME JOKE?! Funny you should bring up me being nothing without your help, because last I checked, Marie was the only reason you're able to be here in the first place, wasn't she?!" Eight slammed Three against the ground. "Respond! Tell me I'm wrong!" Eight burrowed her shoe even deeper. "Don't try and invalidate my problems, you little-" Four yanked Eight away from Three. "Come on, Eight, we're leaving." Eight was seething, her face bright red and coated in tears. "See? You let your emotions get in the way. Honestly I would have thought that a runt like you would have gotten over something that happened years ago by now." Eight broke free of Four's grip. Three was picking herself up. Eight put her luna blaster to the back of Three's head. "If you're so above emotion, how does it feel to be seconds away from death? Are you scared? Terrified? Because YOU SHOULD BE." Eight screamed. A voice came through on Eight's headset. I should also mention, their hero suits have suit cameras. "Eight, please. Stop. This isn't you." Marina pleaded. And it all came crashing down.

"Truffle? I brought you lunch. I know that you aren't ready yet, but I hope you come out soon. It's been a few days. Pearlie and I are worried." Marina's voice trembled through the bathroom door. The door cracked open, and Eight's arm squirmed out. Eight held Marina's hand for a minute or two, and then dragged the food she brought inside. The door gently closed. Marina watched a shadow under the door as Eight scooted her back against the door. Marina sat with her for hours, imagining what was floating around in her head. The door slowly opened. Marina shot to her feet and turned around, a desperate look on her face. Eight stood before her, a shaking mess. Her eyes were shiny as she rushed into Marina's arms, sobbing. "It's okay. Let it out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a downer of a chapter. It's gonna be like this for a while. My emotional state has been shit for weeks. Everything has sucked. Losing most of my friends, my parents have been really bad, it's all just falling apart. If anyone is even reading this, you can add me on discord. Honestly, talking about almost anything helps. Thanks for all the support on the fic. It means a lot to me. Update: Instead of adding me, just join the server: https://discord.gg/6XkyW4cZ


	17. Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part filler part arc. Hooray. My mental health is still shit. Hooray. More depression. Hooray.

"Three, what's your problem?" Four snapped. "What did Eight ever do to you?" Her hands shook. "I don't get what your issue is with her. She tries so hard, and yet she's not good enough for you?" Three groaned. "She complains all the time, she's too soft, she makes too many excuses to not help out, and she's so timid. I hate it. Plus, she's an octoling." Four was fuming. "Don't try to invalidate her problems! She's traumatized, and stressed, and part of that is YOUR fault. And what does race have to do with this? Why do you hate octarians so much? They've hardly done anything!" Four clenched her hands into fists. "Oh, so you're on her side now, are you?" "I don't take sides, Three. She has done absolutely nothing wrong and yet you hate her so much for it." "Do you even hear yourself? Octarians have done nothing to us? They've torn us apart! Haven't you talked to the captain? There was an entire WAR, and yet you're defending them?" Three started to raise her voice. "I'm defending them because I believe in change, Three. I'm willing to give second and third chances. You hold grudges, and you can never look past your own ideology. You tell Eight to move on from the massive amount of time she spent in that hellhole of an army, plus the metro, but you're the one who needs to move on. Give people chances. Pearl told me she was in the bathroom for TWO DAYS. She still has minor damage from the metro, and we keep making her exert herself like this. It isn't healthy." Three rolled her eyes. "They've done so many terrible things, and you think they deserve a second chance? You're weak, too! Are Marie, Callie and I the _only_ competent members of this entire group?" "Abuse isn't the same as competence!" Four shouted at the top of her lungs. She grabbed her charger from next to the door and stormed out of the flat, fuming. Marie shoved Callie through the doorway into Three's room. "Three, we need to talk."

Eight sat on the floor, her knees tucked up to her chin, a blanket wrapped around her with her face being the only visible part of her. She painfully watched the seconds slowly tick by on the digital clock above her. Four hours until Marina came home from work. She dropped the blanket, and opened her laptop. She checked to see if there were any chatlog updates. Still nothing. She stood up, and dragged herself out of the room and down the stairs. She saw her blaster sitting by the door and her hand twitched. She quickly looked away. A sketchbook sat on the counter with a pencil, and she opened it up. It was a large collection of Marina's sketches. Many of them were of landscapes, and a bunch of them were of Eight. The rest were of other people Marina knew. Eight closed the book and sighed. She sat in front of the door for the remaining hours, after hiding the blaster where she couldn't see it.

The metallic jingle of keys is what woke Eight up as the front door opened. She was in the middle of a not-so-great dream. Filled with the agonizing clicks and whirs of autobombs as she walked through a dark hallway with no ending. She woke up feeling as tired and miserable as she felt when she fell asleep two hours ago. Marina came inside, brushing the snow off of her coat. It was winter by now, so that means it was snowing. Pearl unzipped her massive parka and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. She squatted down in front of Eight. "Yo! Are you dead?" Eight sloppily stood up, and mumbled "no." Pearl cringed at the way Eight was looking, tired and sad. "Come on, sadsack. Since it's Friday and we don't have work tomorrow, we're gonna do something fun. Marina stretched in her baggy sweater and blue jeans. Winter was the only time of the year when she wouldn't wear her usual outfit outside of the house. She unzipped her boots, and slid her feet out. Once she finished getting most of her clothing layers removed, (two, to be exact. She had a sweatshirt under her winter coat.) She intertwined her hand in Eight's and guided her to the kitchen. She reached into the fridge and pulled out a vast quantity of ingredients. Eight worked on chopping and mixing things, while Marina worked on actual cooking. Dinner was done decently fast, since they were only making chili. Pearl set the table as Eight brought out steaming bowls.

As they ate, Eight glanced up at Marina from time to time, watching her facial expression change as she tasted the combining flavors. Eight couldn't hold it in anymore. The burning question she had been itching to ask. "Marina, are you upset with me? About the other day? I don't know what I was thinking. I caused a delay in the mission as always. Three was right, maybe I'm just not cut out for this." Marina gazed deeply into Eight's eyes. "Of course I'm not upset." She gently cooed. "I'm worried about you, Truffle. I want you to stop caring about what Three thinks about you and care about what _you_ think about you." Eight gave a weak smile. Marina returned a loving one. "You really need to find a nickname for me." "But-" "I know, you already like my name. But the thing is, truffle isn't just something I came up with. It _was_ your name. I heard it so many times when you were scolded. It's tough to forget. But since everyone calls you Eight, I thought it was, well, special. And it is. It's our secret. And Pearl's, but she doesn't really care. She thinks truffle is too mushy, or something." Pearl fake gagged. "Because it is." Eight thought about it for a little while. "Bee." Marina looked back at Eight. "It's perfect. I'm glad you feel better. I hope I helped." Marina grinned. "Yeah. You did. Thank you."


	18. Irrational anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callie and Three have a talk, Four blows off some steam by beating the living shit out of herself, and Marie goes and helps Four feel better. Then Callie and Four have bonding time.

"What?!" Three screeched. "Please, calm down-" Callie nervously interjected. "Don't tell me to calm down! How can you be okay with her?! She's a living reminder of all of the stuff you've been through, and yet you're okay with her being here?!" Callie flinched. "Stop shouting!" She whimpered. "What is wrong with you all?! They've caused us so many problems! But somehow, you're willing to forgive them?! They've done so many things to you specifically, and now you're just... okay with that?!" Callie started hyperventilating. Three opened her mouth again, but Marie slammed her fist into the door frame. "Stop yelling at my cousin! I don't know if you remember, but she's a higher rank than you, and can strip you of your role of third in command at any time. So I recommend you respect what she says, and cool that volcanic head of yours down. Got it? Now, I'm going after Four. I swear, if she's in tears when I get back, I will personally exile you." Marie stomped away and out the door.

After popping out of the sewer grate, Marie searched Octo Canyon for four. It took a while, but she finally managed to hear the angry ranting coming from the boss kettle in the Slimeskin Garrison. She quietly slipped through the grate, and dropped down to the platform overlooking the area where Four fought the octoshower. She gracefully leapt across the chasm via the launchpad, and landed on her feet, making almost zero sound. Not like it mattered though, since Four was venting so loudly that she probably couldn't hear Marie. Marie tiptoed across the concrete to one of the five pillars in the large, circular arena area. She watched as Four beat the adjacent pillar wall with her fists, leaving her knuckles bruised and bloody. She suddenly dropped to her knees, fists raised. She started punching her knees as hard as she could, her whole body tensing as she did so. She stood up again, this time ramming her entire body into the rough wall. She picked up a small shard of glass, and sliced into the backs of her fingers, wincing with each incision. Marie had to step in before it got any worse. She dashed at Four, grabbed her wrists, and threw the glass off into the distance. Marie gazed into Four's eyes, tears dripping down her face. "I'm not going to just stand here while all my friends fall apart. Stop doing this to yourself. Please." The break in Marie's usual snarky demeanor that revealed her soft side caught Four off guard. "I can't deal with more people getting hurt right now." Marie sniffed, and wiped her face with the sleeve of her kimono. Four sighed, and shakily lowered her bloody fists. "She's so... so... Ugh!" Four clenched her teeth, covering her head. They walked over to the edge of the massive circle, and sat down, legs dangling off the edge. "She's such a pain!" Four yelled, angrily. Her voice echoed off of the walls, causing reverb. "Hey, it's okay to be upset. Let's talk about it."

Callie walked into her room, and slammed the door. She cradled one of her various plushies in her arms and wept. All of her friends were fighting, and she was caught in the crossfire. It all hurt so much to hear everyone yelling. She hated it. She couldn't do anything about it. Three wouldn't listen, and Marie dealt with Four, and Eight had Pearl and Marina. Callie didn't have anyone. The person she was supposed to have has been bitter and angry. She has nobody to talk to. She heard the front door open, and click shut. Someone went down the stairs into the basement, and someone else walked down the hall toward her room. There was a gentle knock on her door. "Y-Yeah? Who is it?" Her voice quivered, and the door cracked open. A familiar long tentacle of hair came through the door. The wavy tip was hard to forget. The fact that Four never tripped over it was astonishing. Four slipped through the doorway, and closed the door. Four slid down to sit on the floor with her back against Callie's bed. Callie sat with her, silently staring at the wall. Eventually, she tilted her head to rest on Four's shoulder, and let out an enormous sob. She continued to sob for the next half an hour, with Four sitting there in silence, gently patting her back. Marie called them out for dinner, and Four stood up. She offered her hand to Callie, who took it. She stood up, and wrapped Four into a tight hug. Four gave her a tired smile, and lead her out to dinner. She sat down next to Marie, and sniffled. "It'll be okay, Callie. I promise." Four reassured her. Marie sheepishly grinned at Callie, who's lips curled a little bit, but were still trembling. "I love you, cuz. Don't ever forget it." Marie said. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.


	19. Hearts and roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory Valentine's day special is obligatory.

Marina tucked Eight into bed, and slid in beside her. She rested her arm on Eight's side, and pressed her forehead into Eight's neck. "Love you, Truffle." She sleepily mumbled. She yawned, and fell asleep.

The next morning, she opened her eyes, and checked the time. February fourteenth, nine in the morning. Eight drearily sat up, gradually waking herself up. "Good morning." She yawned, her mouth gaping open. Marina smiled at her, before standing up to stretch. Eight yawned again, and rolled out of bed. She shuddered as her bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. "What should we do today, since you don't have work?" Eight asked, after they started making their way downstairs. "I mean, there's a love festival or something happening in the plaza today. So, if you wanted, we could go." A grin spread across Eight's tired face. "Yeah, sure." They had breakfast, left a note for Pearl, and went on their way.

Marie put her shoes on, and stood on the landing of the flat. "Four, you coming? They're going to run out of food if we don't leave soon." Four looked at Callie's closed door across the hall. "Yeah, hang on a second." She gently knocked on Callie's door. A sniffle came through it, and after a few seconds, it cracked open. "Hey, Callie. Since you and Three are taking a break from each other right now, and we don't want you to be stuck here by yourself, want to come to the festival with us? I know that it's going to be awkward, but it might help to leave the house." Callie sheepishly smiled, and went back into her room. After a couple minutes, she came out, dressed. "Come on. It'll be fun." Callie reached out her hand, and Four held it. Marie understood how they were silently close, and wasn't that clingy, so she was fine with it. "Callie's coming too?" Marie smiled at her cousin, who met her gaze. Marie hoped that she would feel a bit better by the end of the day.

Once they pulled up to the back of Ammo Knights in the usual alleyway, Marie gave Sheldon the keys, and they walked off into the crowd in the plaza. Four held both their hands, despite Marie not liking hands very much. She mostly held Callie's so she didn't feel alone, or unincluded. Marie spotted Marina and Eight sitting at a table a little ways away, and the three of them made their way towards the other two. Eight spotted them first, and let Marina know. Once the three of them reached the table, Marina shot out of her chair and gave Callie a hug. Callie and Eight made eye contact, sharing a meaningful look of apology with each other. They all sat down. An hour or two passed, mostly consisting of them talking to each other, and watching Four scarf down food. Both Eight and Callie looked tired, neither of them having been able to recover from their arguments with Three that well. Sure, Marina helped Eight feel better, but she still hadn't let it go. She had been staring off into the distance, zoning out, when Eight saw a familiar face. Not only that, but the face had seen her. Well, more the people she was with. "Bee." She got Marina's attention, and nodded towards the boy coming towards them. Marina flinched when she saw the person, but he couldn't be avoided. "Why are _you_ here?" Eight said, not managing to hold back her irritation. "Oh, nothing. I just came so my friend could meet with her online friend." Kevin eyed Marina up, and whistled. Marina blushed, angrily. "I didn't think someone as hot or as popular as you would want to hang around one of their backstage employees. "She's not an employee..." Marina mumbled. Four looked up from her food. "Who's that?" She swallowed. "Some guy from a concert. He keeps harassing her." Eight whispered to Four. "I guess that just means you're sweet, too. The full package. Nice body, popular, smart, and sweet." Kevin winked at her. "Could you please leave us alone?" Marina asked, her voice quiet. "I get it, I'm intimidating. Trust me, I'm better than whichever guys you've been with before." Eight looked at Marina, puzzled, but Marina didn't know what he was talking about, either. "What are you talking about? I don't date guys." Marina sounded confused. Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Wow, so I'll be your first. Have you gotten your first kiss yet?" Marina didn't answer. "I see..." Kevin slid out the chair next to her. "Hey, back off." Four said, before he could sit down. "You're that annoying girl from that clam blitz match I was in a while ago!" Eight turned to look at Four. "I kept stealing his kills. I forgot he existed until just now." Four shrugged. Kevin sat down, and wrapped his arm around Marina's shoulder. Eight had had enough at this point. Marina was visibly uncomfortable with Kevin looking her up and down all the time. He would stare at her legs and chest for minutes at a time, making her more and more upset. Eight slammed her fist against the table. "Leave her alone!" She blurted. "Yeah, she's gotten her first kiss. Back off. Leave us alone." Kevin looked up from gazing at Marina. "Oh? From who?" Eight stood up. "From me!" Kevin shook his head. "Nah, don't believe it." Eight was fuming. "Oh, yeah?" She gently lifted Marina from her chair, and leaned her into a dip. Cradling Marina's back and head in her hands, Eight leaned in and kissed Marina. Kevin's jaw dropped. Marie cheered. "Woot! Spin her around!" Eight twirled Marina, laughing. Tired yellow eyes met with shining turquoise ones. Marina giggled as Eight brought her back to her feet. "As I said, I don't date guys. I'm lesbian." Marina said, a giggling, blushing mess. Kevin turned red, stood up, and stomped off, angrily. Four looked at Eight, a smug look on her face. "Oh, shut up. We've kissed before." Eight said. Callie let out a small laugh. Marie smiled at her. Things weren't going so badly.

Pearl checked her phone. They should be here by now. A timid looking octoling with her hair in a messy topknot looked around, checking her phone. Pearl made eye contact with her. She made her way towards Pearl, her eyes sheepishly darting around in their sockets. "Excuse me, um... I'm a big fan of your work, but that's not what I'm here about. I, uh... My friend said he would tell me where to go, but he wandered off, and now I'm lost." She was explaining so fast that Pearl cut her off. "Slow down. Where do you need to go?" Pearl rested her chin on her fist. "Well, um- My online friend wanted to meet with me today, and said to meet at a table somewhere near the arcade games outside the Shoal, but I'm not sure which one she's at..." The octoling looked nervous. "Hm... This you?" Pearl showed the octoling her phone, showing a long string of texts between her and someone named Panna_cotta. "Oh! Uh, yeah. That's me. So, I'm meeting with, uh, you? That's... really cool!" The octoling sat down. "Well, um, my name is-" All of a sudden, Kevin sunk down into a chair next to her. "Ugh! Tako! Why are all the nice women taken?" He groaned. "Um... Did you try flirting with Marina again? Or did you find some other girl to hit on?" The girl looked at Kevin. "Yeah, and guess what? She's dating someone already. Some random octo chick." He rolled his eyes. "You should leave her alone, then. If she's already dating someone, then-" "I'll show her how attractive real men can be." "Could you, like, leave? I'm in the middle of a convo." Pearl said, the amount of exasperation in her voice so thick that not even a sting ray could cut through it. Kevin only just noticed that she was there, and leapt out of his chair in fear. "You! Stay away from me!" He quickly turned, and dashed away. "Sorry, he's a pain. He only talks to me for my relationship advice. Which he doesn't listen to." She let out an awkward chuckle. "Anyway, my name is Tako. At least, everyone calls me that. My full name is Takoyaki, but Tako is more convenient." She started blubbering out words, trying to make the situation less awkward. "Yo. Chill. I'm not gonna judge you or anything. You don't have to act all cool n' stuff. You aren't doing very well at it, either." Pearl said, making Tako shut up. "So. Tell me about yourself."

Callie yawned, her exhausted face still failing to match her usual chipper attitude. Both Four and Marie held her hands. She was happy to be out of her room, and moving around. She and Marie had an upcoming performance in a week, so the bliss of being able to destress like this was really nice. She knew Three would come around, but it still had an impact on her to argue with her girlfriend like that. She sleepily watched as Eight and Marina eagerly talked to each other about something. She yawned again, beginning to zone out. After who knows how long, Marie gently shook her out of her haze. Her bedroom was lonely. At least out here, she had her friends.

Four was basically vibrating with excitement as they stood on the enormous boat. At least a hundred people were there, waiting with bated breath for the upcoming fireworks. Marie chuckled as Four bounced up and down. She patted Four on the head. "Calm down. They're just fireworks." Four sighed. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean they aren't exciting." Four checked her phone. "Five more minutes." Callie stood beside Marie, gazing drearily into the night sky. Marina gave Eight a peck on the cheek, and rested her head on Eight's shoulder. The five of them lost track of time, watching the colorful explosions along the horizon. After a long day, it was time to go home.

Callie lay in her bed, looking at her tablet. It was midnight and really dark, so the rectangle was the only thing illuminating the room. She looked at the photos that Four had sent her of the day. She was in all of them. She was included. At that moment, she truly knew that she wasn't alone.

Eight stepped out of the bathroom and into the sauna. Since both octolings and inklings alike could die from touching water that was too hot, the shower had to be a cold one. She stepped in, and was engulfed in steam. She sat down next to her girlfriend, both of them wrapped in towels. After the events of the day, they needed time to relax before going to bed. Marina smiled at Eight. "Did you have fun?" Eight nodded. "Yeah. The funny thing is, I'm not tired." She let out a small chuckle. "Well, since I don't have work tomorrow, want to pull an all-nighter? Just cozy things. Nothing too energetic." Marina asked. "Yeah, that sounds nice. As long as I get to wear my pajamas." Marina stared at her. "What else would you wear?" She asked, puzzled. "Well, not pajamas?" Marina giggled. "Sure. You know, when you kissed me today?" Eight nodded. "It was nice. You're a good kisser." Eight's entire body went from milky white to a bright shade of red. She quickly attempted to think of a comeback. "It's not like you to say stuff like that without getting embarrassed. But I can see your face turning red. So I guess you did." "T-There's just a lot of steam in here!" Marina said, defensively. Eight giggled. She hugged Marina. "Well, uh..." Marina awkwardly tried to come up with some way to flirt. It didn't work. The rest of the night was spent snuggling and watching shows. It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted in a while. My parents have been really bad, and I've even thought about suicide a couple of times in the past week. I haven't been in the right headspace, but I've started feeling a bit better. Hopefully the extra long fluff chapter was nice. Please, consider joining the discord server. It's really lonely in there, and I need someone to talk to.


	20. Challenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three challenges Eight to a fight. Eight has other plans. End of the mean Three arc, two more fillers and we'll reach the end of this first part of the series. Sequel and stuff comes later, the series will probably only end when I don't feel like writing it anymore. Meaning, multiple years from now.

"Eight, I need to talk to you." Marie said, as Eight came down the stairs. "Get the other two in the dining room." Eight and Marie gathered with Pearl and Marina in the large dining room. "Since I'm some kind of pigeon or something, I was told to give you a message." Marie was serious, her normally sarcastic tone hardly apparent. "Three challenged you to a fight." Marina bolted out of her chair. "What?!" Eight looked shocked. "No! No way!" Pearl shouted. "There isn't really a choice. She said she'll remove you from the squidbeak if you don't show up." Marie sighed. "I tried arguing against it, but she doesn't care. She wants it to happen tomorrow. Seven P.M. The area where we were brought back from Octavio's control. I hate to say it, but everyone has to attend. Apart from gramps. He's busy, with... Something. Tomorrow. Seven. Don't forget." And with that Marie left. As soon as the front door closed, the room erupted into an outrage. "No way are you doing that!" Pearl yelled. "She can't fight Three, she'll be killed!" Marina paced the room. "I'm up for it." Pearl and Marina turned to look at Eight. "What?!" They shouted in unison. "No! We won't let you." "You heard Marie. I don't really have a choice." "Yes, you do! What does it matter if you're in the squidbeak or not?! You don't have to prove anything to her!" Eight shook her head. "This isn't about proving anything. Honestly, I'm terrified. This is about opening her eyes." Eight walked up to Marina's room, and went to sleep. Pearl and Marina looked at each other, and sighed.

Eight slid on her boots. They were in Octo Canyon, five minutes before the fight started. She saw Callie pleading with Three out of the corner of her eye. She stood up, neo octoling armor on, Luna Blaster in hand. "I'm ready." She walked up towards the center, where she met Three. "Begin!" Marie's voice came through the megaphone she was holding. Almost immediately, Three powered on an inkjet. Eight managed to dodge all of her shots, but didn't make an effort to attack at all. Eight set her blaster on the ground. "Giving up already, huh?" Three said, a sneer making its way across her face. "I don't want to fight." Eight's voice quivered. She gulped, and took a deep breath. "We can talk this out, and-" She dashed out of the way of a bomb Three threw at her. "-discuss things peacefully, if you just stop attacking me." Three rolled her eyes. "Oh, give it a rest, would you?" She started firing at Eight, who constantly moved out of the way of her line of fire. It lasted for hours.

Eight's body ached as she struggled to get away from the barrage of autobombs being thrown at her. It was so much like the battle three years ago. But this time, she could make a change. The first shot hit Eight's arm. She winced in pain as she dragged her sore body along the concrete beneath her. "Still persisting, I see. Don't worry, I'll break you soon enough." Eight continued to struggle to evade the barrage of ink coming at her. Her tank hadn't lost a single drop since the beginning of the battle. "Please, just, put your weapon down." Eight couldn't keep moving anymore. She was taking shot after shot at this rate. Three's expression seemed to be breaking. "Why aren't you fighting back?" She growled as she continued to shoot the limp figure before her. Eight managed to stand up on her shaking legs. She took a full on bomb blast directly to the face, blowing her dangerously close to the edge. Marina, who was in the spectator stands, was gasping for air at this point. Tears ran down her face as she watched Eight pick herself up again, only to collapse to her knees seconds later. "Fight back!" Three shouted at Eight, as she shakily stood back up to lean on a pole for support. Three slammed Eight against the ground. "FIGHT BACK, YOU WEAKLING!" Eight smiled. "WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!" Three stomped on Eight's hand. Eight coughed up a bit of ink. "It's funny to see what people do when they get mad. I guess this is kind of embarrassing for you, huh? I'm dishonoring our fight." Eight coughed again. Three shoved Eight's blaster into her hands. "FIGHT. BACK." She positioned Eight's arm to be pointing straight at her head, finger on the trigger. Eight dropped the blaster, and managed to knock it into the abyss below. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! IF YOU WON'T FINISH THIS, I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!" Eight coughed again, and looked up to have the barrel of Three's splattershot pointed directly at her forehead. Callie gasped. Marina covered her eyes, and Pearl looked away. Four stared, in shock. "Your tank is... empty. Heh." Eight mumbled as her vision began to blur. "You... used it all up with that bomb. Here, take mine. Finish... the job." Eight took off her ink tank, and weakly lifted it towards Three. Three took it, and looked at it. Eight scrunched her eyes shut, prepared for what was coming. But it never came. The canister was shattered on the ground, and Three stormed off, leaving Eight on the ground, fighting to keep consciousness. Her head hit the cold concrete, and everything went black.

The ringing in her ears was too loud. She couldn't move, and her head was embedded in clouds. Her eyes slowly opened, the white, luminescent lights of a hospital room came into view above her. She still couldn't move. Someone next to her was crying, and someone in front of her was pacing the room. Her hand was being massaged by the person next to her. "Hello?" Eight croaked. The sobbing next to her came to an abrupt stop. A sudden pressure upon her body was holding her, tightly. "I can't move." Her hoarse voice caught in her throat, and tears began pouring out of her eyes. Someone's head was rolling from side to side, rubbing against her chest. Her eyes managed to focus on the figures in front of her, despite the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hospital gown was soaked, Marina rubbing her face on it. "Marina," Pearl hiccupped. "You're smothering her, it's my turn." Pearl pulled Marina away from Eight, only to leap onto the hospital bed. "Don't do that, EVER AGAIN!" Pearl shouted, angrily. "You gotta stop scaring me, man. All the stress and junk is tough to deal with." Marie stopped pacing at the foot of the bed, and made eye contact with Eight. A grin spread across her face. "Where're Callie and Four?" "They're in the hallway." Eight slowly nodded her head, beginning to regain movement capabilities again. "W-What about Three? Is she here too?" Pearl looked at Eight like she was crazy. "Naw, she's off sulking somewhere." The next few hours were spent with the group of them talking and having a good time, until Marie and Pearl went home. Marina stayed.

Eight cracked her eyes open, and checked the clock. Two in the morning. She looked at Marina, who was slumped over in the chair next to her, asleep. She slid out of her hospital bed, careful not to make noise. She winced as her bare feet touched the cold tile floor. She quietly opened the door, and slipped out of her room. She limped down the hall to the front office, where a bunch of patients sat waiting. The receptionist was using the bathroom, though, so she could leave without being noticed. She was close to inkopolis square, so she staggered there as fast as she could. After slipping through the grate into Octo Canyon, she used most of her energy to jump down to the massive circular battlefield. Three sat on the edge of the platform, tossing rocks into the ocean below her. The slap of Eight's feet against the hard ground caught Three's attention. "Oh, great. It's you. Shouldn't you be in the hospital, or something?" Three sounded upset. Eight limped to the edge, and sat down next to Three. "Yeah, but I want to talk to you." She let her legs dangle off of the edge of the platform, and stared out at the massive statues jutting out from the purple sea. "What, so you can humiliate me again?" Three continued throwing rocks. "No, that's not what I'm here for." "I surrendered. What else do you want?" Eight took a shaky breath. "I want you to know that we aren't that different. I know that I'm soft and not a very big help, but I still try. The octarian army hurt us both. But you shouldn't take out your anger about it on octolings just wanting to live their lives. Three years ago, back when you first nearly killed me? That's probably more traumatic than any of the days in the metro." Eight shivered as a cool breeze blew over the area. "I'm sorry. I just... Can't get over these things. My stubbornness doesn't work well with your softness, and I take it out on you. Deep down, I know it's not your fault. But it's just so hard to get over things like that. I need to change. I see that now." Three looked up at the sky. "Honestly, when you weren't attacking, I was getting more and more scared the weaker you got. I went too far. I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore. I cause too many problems for you. I'm sorry." Eight smiled slightly, and made an attempt to give Three a hug. "It's okay. Change takes time." Three sighed, and threw another stone. "Sorry about your blaster. I can pay for a new one." Eight weakly shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'll take care of it." Three laughed. "I gotta admit it, you're way more fearless than I am. Just laying there and taking hits like that." Eight chuckled. "Nah. It was terrifying. I find it admirable how you managed to hold back. That must have taken some serious thought." Three gazed up at the sky. "I really only held back because I knew what I was doing was wrong. It was irrational and immature of me to get carried away like that." Eight looked at the girl next to her. "You're angry. It's okay to be angry, you know. Of course, the fact that you almost killed me is probably going to put a dent in our relationship, but it's okay for you to be mad. You've probably been really stressed, huh?" Three sniffled. "Yeah." Eight stared up into the sky. "The stars are nice tonight." "Yeah." Tears dripped down Three's face. "You should go back home. Talk to Callie. She needs it." Three wiped her eyes, and nodded. She stood up, and jumped back to the entrance to the canyon. Eight yawned, and scooted backwards. She lay down, gazing up at the stars until she fell asleep.

"Truffle?!" Marina's desperate cries are what woke Eight. She yawned, and attempted to pick herself up, but the amount of damage and lack of energy in her body made it difficult. From far away, she saw Marina getting closer. Her face was wet with tears, and she threw herself onto Eight. "I was so worried about you!" Marina sobbed. "I'm okay." Marina cradled Eight in her arms and stood up. She carried her all the way to the top of the canyon, and back to the hospital. She buried her face into Eight's neck, waves of her flowery perfume wafting across Eight's nose. Eight was put back into medical care, and would be discharged in a week. At least she got visitors. And on her second to last day, Three was one of them.


	21. Thunderstorms and rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of two final fillers for this fic! First chapter for sequel will be out in a week or two.
> 
> This chapter was inspired by this drawing I found! Go check it out.  
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/610589661965101841/

Thunder cracked, causing Eight to jump. Droplets of water began to fall from the sky, hammering on the rooftop. Eight nervously held Marina, who was fast asleep next to her. The body warmth was nice. The sky rumbled, and lightning flashed outside. Eight looked at the digital clock next to the bed. Four in the morning. Marina would have to get ready for work in a few hours. Eight thought for a moment. Wasn't it Saturday? Carp. Marina normally sleeps in on weekends. It was meant to be stormy for two days. Another deep growl shook Eight to the core. It reminded her of the clacking of train wheels. Since she couldn't sleep, Eight quietly got out of bed and took her laptop downstairs. She opened it, and the blaring brightness of the screen hurt her eyes. She turned the brightness down, and opened the chatroom.

_Starjump: Is anyone up?_

_Blushrush: Oh, hey, Eight. What's got you up early?_

_Starjump: Thunder is too loud. I don't like storms. Reminds me of... down there._

_Blushrush: Sorry to hear that. Hope it settles down, either that or either Pearl or Marina wakes up soon. I'm gonna go back to bed. Ciao._

Eight sighed, and closed the laptop. She sat on the sofa and stared out the window. About half an hour passed, and she heard someone coming down the stairs. She sat there, frozen. She watched Pearl come down the steps and yawn. A flash of lightning lit up the room, alerting Pearl to the fact that Eight was there. "Yo, why are you up? Don't you normally sleep until, like, ten?" Pearl whispered. "I can't sleep." Eight sighed. "Storm is too loud." Pearl shrugged, and went to the kitchen to guzzle down coffee. Eight went back upstairs to lay in bed with Marina until she woke up. Her body was soft and warm, it felt welcoming. It felt safe.

Marina awoke to Eight's tired face. She smiled. "Didn't sleep well?" She gazed into those deep, orange eyes she loved so much. "The rain reminded me of being in the metro. It sounds like train tracks." Eight mumbled. "If you're feeling down, you can wake me up. We can cuddle until you don't feel bad anymore." Eight gave a slight smile. "That sounds nice." Marina buried into the blankets and wrapped Eight in her arms. "Let's relax today, okay?" "Yeah." Marina embedded her face into Eight's hair. It was nice to have her there with her again. Her bed felt lonely without someone to protect her. Eight took a deep breath. Marina kissed the back of her neck, which made her jump. Marina giggled, and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh, and fell back asleep.

Two hours later, the two of them got out of bed. Eight yawned as she got dressed, drowsily putting on a long, cream-colored sweater and a pair of silk shorts. She stretched, and went out into the hallway. Marina came out a moment later in a black sweater and tights. After walking downstairs to the kitchen, Eight and Marina made French toast together. Marina brought Pearl some in her room, then went back to sit with Eight at the excessively long dining table. Eight took a bite of the chewy cinnamon bread, and let out a noise of delight. Marina smiled sweetly at her, the circular glasses on her face slipping down her nose. At home, she didn't wear her contacts. "So, um, Truffle... You've carried splatlings before. Do you think that maybe, an octoling might weigh that much? Just out of curiosity." She asked, timidly. Eight's face turned pink. "I mean, I'm not sure! I could try testing it, if you wanted." She avoided making eye contact, since that would only get her more flustered. She took a sip of juice, and thought for a moment. "U-uh, you know how a sponge gave me a hug once? That sponge could maybe, um, be replaced with someone else." The two continued to awkwardly flirt until they finished breakfast. They were both blushing, giggling messes by the end of it.

Eight ran her fingers through Marina's hair, the tentacles writhing between her slender fingers. Marina squirmed. "That tickles!" She giggled as Eight absentmindedly tapped gently on the tentacles. "Oh, sorry..." Eight sounded down. "What's wrong? Marina sat up, and turned to sit normally. She rested Eight's head in her lap, and gently stroked her hair. "I can't stop thinking about being in the hospital and hearing you cry. I'm too reckless and let my emotions get in the way of things. I keep scaring you. And I feel terrible about it." Marina soothingly cooed. "That's part of who you are. You shouldn't feel ashamed. I find it admirable how you follow what your emotions tell you. It shows that you care." She gently kissed Eight's forehead. Pearl came into the room from the kitchen. "Getting spicy, I see." A light shade of pink appeared on Marina's dark skin. "What?! No! I was just- We- I-" She stuttered. Pearl cackled. "Whatever you say, 'Rina. Just don't start making out in the living room. It's awkward to walk in on." And with that, Pearl left. Marina pouted next to Eight, until an idea hit her. "Come on, Truffle. I gotta show you something." Marina took Eight's hand, and brought her to the door. She got into a raincoat and a pair of boots, and went outside. Eight watched as she splashed in the rain, laughing. "Marina! Wait! You're gonna get wet!" She grabbed an umbrella and put boots on, and ran to Marina. She opened the umbrella above them. As the rain poured around them, Marina closed the gap between the two of them. Their bodies pressed together as Marina leaned forward, her left foot lifting off the ground as her knee bent.

A rush of emotion burst into Eight's mind as their lips met. She savored the kiss as Marina pressed against her. Marina felt blood flow through her body as their lips met. After a few moments, she gently pulled away, and wrapped her arms around Eight's neck. Eight instinctively put her hands on Marina's hips, dropping the umbrella. They shared another passionate kiss, lasting for five seconds at least. They pulled back. "Hopefully, this helps you feel better about the rain." Their hands intertwined as water fell around them, soaking their hair and clothes. Marina smiled, without looking at Eight. She rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. The rain truly caused wonderful things to happen sometimes.

Eight sheepishly burrowed under the blankets as the rain hammered down on the rooftop. She had dried off, and gotten into her pajamas. The two of them decided to take a nap after being outside, but she couldn't sleep. Marina's face smushed against Eight's cheek as she softly breathed in and out. Eight's tense body slowly relaxed as Marina' arms gently draped themselves over Eight's chest. Marina held Eight tight as the grey outside of the window flashed. Marina let out a soft sigh, and snuggled up closer to Eight. Eight yawned. Her eyes fluttered shut, and before she knew it, she was dreaming.


	22. Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! It's basically what happened while/close after Eight escaping from the metro, but from Marina's POV. Also some present day stuff too.

Marina's heart fluttered as she saw Eight's face in the photograph that the captain had sent her and Pearl. Eight had just gotten the third thang. Up until now, the two of them had never seen what Eight looked like. Marina had, of course, but not in a long time. She gazed into those deep, yellow eyes. They still shined with compassion, a fire glowing deep within them. "-Right?" Marina snapped back to reality. "Hm?" She looked up at Pearl. "I said that it's going to be so fun to hang out with Eight when she gets outta there, right?" "Oh, um, yeah!" A strand of Marina's hair twitched. She returned to gazing at the picture of Eight squatting on the floor of the train, staring off into the distance. Marina could look at those eyes for hours. "We have to rehearse in fifteen minutes, come on." Pearl dragged Marina from her seat. Eight could wait, she supposed.

Eight's slender fingers wrapped around Marina's, her other hand on Marina's hip. They leaned closer and closer, Marina's blushing face on fire as their lips were about to meet, and then- She woke up, sweaty. After taking a look at the clock beside her bed, Marina got up. She crept into the bathroom, and splashed some cold water on her face. Once she dried herself off, she stood in front of the mirror, breathing heavily. Though the flushedness was difficult to see on her dark skin, she definitely knew it was there. Her entire body was burning, her fingers tingling. "Deep breaths. In and out. Just focus on your breathing, Marina." She said, under her breath. She stayed there until she finally calmed herself down. She went back to bed, and stared at the ceiling for a while. Later that day, she found out she was running a fever. Strange.

She watched through the camera on the train as the blades began to whir. She frantically tapped things into her keyboard, to no avail. "Marina, I should have let you know earlier, but I-" Eight's voice got cut off as Three crashed through the ceiling. Marina let out a sigh of relief, but also anguish. She didn't know what Eight was going to say. She doubted she would ever find out. But at least Eight was okay.

Marina held her breath as she watched Three and Eight fight. She nearly fainted once Eight had defeated her, and gotten the green oozing goop off of Three's head. "Good going, Eight!" Pearl cheered through the microphone. "Now you just need to climb the ladder, and you'll finally make it home." Pearl instructed, over the chopping noises of helicopter blades. As Eight began to climb, the helicopter circled the platform in the ocean. A small figure appeared, their magenta hair glinting in the orange of the sunset. "Yo, Eight!" Pearl shouted through her microphone. "We got you!" The next thing Marina knew, Eight was on the platform the helicopter was holding up. As she tuned out the rapping between Pearl and the Captain, she watched the massive statue surface. "Uh... Is anyone else seeing that?" She yelled, over the wind. Pearl looked at the statue. "Is that... A human?" She asked. "But they went extinct a long time ago." A voice came through the communications device on the helicopter. "It's that phone again!" the Captain croaked. A plan was devised, and put into action.

Her breath was bated as Eight plummeted towards the ground below her. Marina scrunched her eyes shut, but then heard something land on the platform the helicopter was holding. She was relieved, but there were more important things to deal with. "AYO, STATUE!" Pearl's hair began to glow. An enormous megaphone appeared in front of her. Pearl took a deep breath. "BOOYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Pearl screamed into the megaphone, a huge beam of pink ink coming out of it, clashing with the cyan of the statue. It began to falter. Marina's ears began to ring, as Pearl's beam got larger. She blacked out. Her eyes opened, and she shakily stood up. It was over. Tears of joy dripped down her face, and she hugged Pearl as tightly as she could, knocking her to the ground. "Get off of me!" Pearl struggled, but couldn't get away. Things were okay, now. She was okay.

Movement on the monitor caught Marina's attention. She gasped. "PEARL!" She shouted across the house, excited. "Whaaaat?" Pearl walked in, tired. "Eight got out of bed!" "Huh?! I missed it!" Pearl stamped her foot. "We can see her after work. We gotta go now, though." Marina could hardly resist the urge to squeal. The two of them went to work, but neither of them could focus properly. After what felt like forever, the two of them visited Eight's room. Pearl gently opened the door. Without thinking, Marina rushed through the doorway and tackled Eight. Watching Marina roll around on the floor, Pearl blushed. "This is embarrassing." She muttered. "Marina, you're smothering her. Get off." Marina resisted as Pearl pulled her off of Eight, but it changed nothing. Pearl wrapped Eight into a tight hug, while Marina shyly giggled. When the two of them left, Pearl elbowed Marina. "You could have kissed her, you know. You had the chance." "H-Huh?!" Marina's face began to heat up. "It's not like that!" "Mhm." Pearl stared at Marina, skeptically. "Well, let's go home, then. It's my turn to make dinner." She and Marina left the lobby, and went home.

Eight gazed out of the window with glassy eyes, her usual tired expression more tired than usual. She was up against the window, watching the rain. Ever since the previous day, she couldn't stop thinking about the kiss they shared. The whole world around them just... fell away. Nothing mattered in that moment. It was nice. She heard Marina practicing downstairs from her spot on the cushioned windowsill. The best way Eight could describe the music she was hearing was "warm and cozy." It had a gently Lo-Fi rhythm to it. It fit perfectly with the rain pouring down outside. After who knows how long, the music stopped. The door opened, and Marina sat down with Eight. She yawned, and rested her head on Eight's left shoulder. She fell into a light sleep. They were both at peace. It had taken so much to get to this point. But it was worth all of it.


End file.
